


Of The Sea and Sky

by kittyface27



Series: Romance Stories (AcexMarco, ZoroxLuffy, ShanksxMakino) [15]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace does not have devil fruit, Action, Adventure, Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Drama, Everyone lives, Fight Scenes, Fluff, Gay Sex, Gyojin-tou | Fishman Island, Humor, M/M, Powerful Character, Romance, Smut, art done by me, calm belt, fishmen, marcoxace - Freeform, multiple sex scenes, racism against fishmen, sea king ace, sea kings - Freeform, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 57,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23706475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyface27/pseuds/kittyface27
Summary: When the only sea king fishman in the world joins the Whitebeard pirates, everything changes for everyone. Some for the better, some for the worse. Bottom line, who wouldn't want a fishman who could command sea kings? No body. Who would fight to have him? Everybody.Rated E for smut, swearing, and some violence.
Relationships: Fuschichou Marco | Phoenix Marco & Whitebeard Pirates, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Portgas D. Ace & Whitebeard Pirates
Series: Romance Stories (AcexMarco, ZoroxLuffy, ShanksxMakino) [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703449
Comments: 59
Kudos: 244





	1. Discovering Ace

**Back with another one! This one is MarcoxAce (again!). There is swearing and both violence near the end and explicit content (wink wink). First story in years that has any smuttiness in it. And the only one I did was terrible. Ick, don't read it. This one is not as long as some of my other stories, but 50,000+ words nonetheless. Well, enjoy!**

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Ace napped at the bottom of his tank, spines floating in the water as he wasn't able to focus to keep them flat. His hair moved just slightly in the barely moving water. His owner tapped on the tank obnoxiously, but Ace ignored him. He was the man's "prize" and a prize he was. Ace was one of the rarest fishmen that existed. A sea king fishman. Maybe the only of his kind. So of course he was sought after once the man discovered him. He hadn't even been bought, he was hurt and washed up on the beach of the island.

Well, he didn't wash up, he got sick and a seaking brought him there for safety. It was a mistake, but the beast had been doing what it thought was best for Ace. If he hadn't been unconscious, then he could have been fine and not be caught by this loser. He tapped on the glass to get Ace's attention. He ignored him.

"Oi, wake up, beast," the noble said angrily. Ace was probably the worst behaved slave in the world. He did not respond when he was asked, spoke when he was not supposed to, and was just as obnoxious as he could be. He was awake now, but pretended to be asleep. The noble tapped on the glass harder.

"Time for food, prick?" Ace asked with a fake yawn. The noble scowled at him, and told him people would be coming over and he was to behave. Ace challenged him by asking, "How are you gonna make me?"

The noble, Jousen, said, "No food for three days if you misbehave." Ace mocked horror, though he was not concerned. He wished he could get out of this damn tank, but the bars were too hard for him to break out from the inside. He didn't know it was because they were made of seastone. The glass was thick and Ace had trouble even seeing through it.

Ace replied with, "You know how rare I am, and that I need a lot of food. Are you going to risk me dying?" Ace didn't know he was rare, but the noble said he was. Jousen scowled at him deeply, face full of rage. Ace grinned at him in amusement, and then settled back down and napped again. The tank he was trapped in was relatively big, but not the open ocean. Ace missed that, and being free. He missed swimming. He missed everything he didn't have here.

A while later, some guests were over, and Ace knew it was time to be a pest. He had been trying to annoy Jousen enough to let him go for _months_. He'd been trapped there for four months. The guest came over and Jousen showed them his prized possession, Ace. "He's the only sea king fishman ever caught successfully," he bragged. Ace opened his eyes and stared at them, and before he made a mocking smile.

"Did you know that this man fucks a plastic doll?" Ace asked with a flat voice. Jousen looked horrified by the lie, but the others looked at him in disgust.

"That's not true! He's lying just to spite me!" Jousen shouted in anger and panic. After all, these people respected him greatly, and Ace was making them doubt the man.

"Hey, I wish I was lying so I didn't have to listen to him when he does it!" The other rich folk looked at Jousen in disgust, surprising Ace that they believed his word more than their fellow rich asshole. The two left, excusing themselves for "needing to be somewhere". The noble ran out of the room to try and get them to come back.

Ace laughed in amusement, having only come up with the lie on the spot, but it was a good one. After all, Jousen lived alone, so maybe he made up for the lack of a spouse by fucking an inanimate object. Who knows.

Jousen walked back in, face red in fury. "Did your noble friends leave? You know it is quite unsanitary. Hope you wash the thing," Ace said casually. Jousen finally snapped.

"I am done with you! I should have done this a long time ago!" he shouted, and Ace thought he was being freed since he was unable to be pierced or shocked. But instead, Jousen left the room and brought in a huge jug. He couldn't tell what it was, but worried when the man opened the top of the tank and dumped the liquid in.

"Hey, what is that?!" Ace demanded. Jousen smiled at him cruelly.

He replied, "You may be unique but you're still a fish in a tank! It's ammonia. Good luck surviving _that,"_ and he left the room. As the ammonia spread throughout the tank, Ace started to panic and try to break the thick glass and bars. It wasn't working, so he shoved his hands over his gills and clamped his mouth shut.

He banged on the glass until he started to feel the effects on his body and not from ingesting it. It started to burn even though there was nothing looking different. He fell to his knees and slowly backwards until he was leaning against the tank wall. What a stupid way to go out. He passed out before he heard the commotion from below. He was in the highest part of the mansion.

It was all going dark and hazy when he noticed a blob come it, mostly purple. He couldn't make out the details, but he managed to get up and press his hands to the glass. "Help me. Get me out," he said as loud as he could. The purple blob stopped hurrying, and looked to the tank. Ace had a look of desperation on his face, and then the tank's face was shattered and all of the water spilled out onto the floor, flooding the room, since it had been a relatively large tank, not that it was pleasant to be stuck in it.

The effects of the ammonia started to fade, and thankfully he wasn't in it long. He couldn't and wheezed for a few minutes, and then the bars came unhinged from the base. Whoever helped him, he was strong. Ace wondered who he was and how he got there. He made sure to flatten the spines down so he didn't accidentally sting the guy.

"Thank you," he said, standing up, not in water for the first time in months. His vision was going back to normal and the stinging of his skin was fading. "Who are you?" Ace asked curiously. "How'd you get past the nobles?"

The man answered his second question first. "No one would tell me how I could get off the island, and started attacking me. They're all dead. My name is Marco, first mate of the Whitebeard pirates," he explained.

"Ace," he said, and held out his hand to shake. Marco took it, and then looked around for any maps, as he asked Ace for some. "Don't know, been in that damn tank for a long time. Where are you looking to go? I might be able to help. You let me out and saved me after all. I lied and told other nobles that my 'master' had sex with a doll. He dumped ammonia in the tank to kill me," Ace explained, and Marco laughed. Ace grinned and laughed, too.

"I don't think I've ever met a slave like that," Marco said lightly, seeming much more comfortable than a minute ago. Ace shrugged and explained he tried to annoy him to free him. "You seriously called him prick?" Ace nodded, and Marco chuckled. "So, how can you help me? I'm trying to get back to my ship. It's stranded in the Calm Belt. I went looking for any islands for help, but this was the only one I found and no one was helpful."

Ace's face brightened. He could help him more than he asked. He could ask the sea kings to drag the ship out of the Calm Belt. They all liked Ace and listened to his requests. It was convenient when he didn't want to swim, he just rode them while they swam near the surface. He was fine living in the Calm Belt himself with them, since they could talk. He wasn't lonely, even if he was the only fishman that lived there as far as he knew.

It was also better to live alone so no one tried to use him for his ability to talk to the sea kings, the most powerful force in the oceans. "I can find your ship by asking sea kings. If you're nice enough, I'll have them get your ship out of the Calm Belt," Ace explained. Marco looked confused and then really looked at Ace's markings. They weren't like any other creature in the sea.

He was shirtless and wearing shorts, barefoot. He had the poisonous spines down his back, calves, and forearms. They were flat, though, meaning they wouldn't harm anyone on accident. "You're a sea king fishman?" Marco asked in slight disbelief. Ace nodded. "I didn't know that was possible." Ace shrugged, and said it was.

"Well, I'll take you up on that offer," Marco said with a smile. Ace looked out the balcony, he was going to have to climb down, and they were quite high up. It would be ridiculous to fall to his death after just being saved. "Don't worry, I can get us down quickly," Marco told him with a grin, and then changed into a huge flaming bird and unceremoniously grabbed Ace with his huge talons, though not in a painful or rough manner, and flew them down, Ace screaming the whole time.

He couldn't help the spines extending and sinking into Marco in the bird form. "Shit! The spines, you idiot!" Ace screamed over the rush of wind. They landed and Marco changed back after setting Ace down rather gently. Marco looked down at the purple spots from the poison and they disappeared like they'd never been there. The spines flattened again and Ace looked confused.

"I ate a devil fruit, phoenix model. Your spines won't harm me, I'm fine," he explained. Ace kicked him in the groin.

"Jerk, tell me before you jump out the window!" Marco started laughing, and Ace pouted at him before walking into the water. "I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder and strode right into the ocean. He sighed happily as he was finally in fresh ocean water, nice and cool with the comforting feeling of the current rushing back and forth.

He let out a noise similar to a dolphin's echolocation to call the nearest sea king. Two arrived, one smaller while the other was huge. They were both big, but differed in size greatly. "I'm back, bitches!" Ace declared and the sea kings cheered in their deep voices, welcoming him back and swimming around him. "I got a favor to ask. The guy who saved me and let me out of the tank is looking for his ship. It's somewhere in the Calm Belt. And if you're okay with it, I'd like to repay the favor by helping them out of here," Ace said.

"Well do that for Ace's savior," the small spotted one said, happy Ace was free again. Ace thanked them and said he'd be back with the guy soon. He walked out of the ocean, hair slicked back so it wasn't pasted to his face.

"Alright, ready to go?" he asked happily, so glad to be free. He hoped Marco killed Jousen. Fucking asshole almost killed him with amonia. Since he couldn't break Ace's thick skin and electrocution didn't work, he guessed that was the only way to kill him.

Marco nodded, and changed into half form, with wings as arms with feet being talons while the rest of him was normal. Ace swam out a bit deeper quickly and stood on top of the bigger sea king that had it's back above the water so Ace could stay on. He was used to doing this, so his balance was perfect. "What's your ship like?" Ace asked, looking up at Marco, who looked slightly uncomfortable with the sea king.

"It's extremely large and the figure head is designed like a whale. There should be a lot of people making noise on it," Marco explained. Ace repeated the words, and the sea king set off quickly. Ace stood on it like he was surfing as it swam at intense speeds. Marco was able to keep up.

"So, what's pirating like?" Ace asked conversationally over the sound of rushing water. Might as well make talk with the guy while they headed to his ship. Ace was glad he'd met a good human. The majority he came across were assholes, but also it was not often he met people out in the Calm Belt.

He had come across the Kuja pirates more than once, but they left him alone. Well, the first time he came to them, their sea kings getting distracted by his presence, they shot arrows at him, calling him a stupid man. Whatever their problem was with him, he wasn't very interested in learning what it was.

"It's better than any other profession you could want. No rules to follow beside the captain's, no restraints on where you want to go. We're criminals so we can do whatever we like," Marco said, voice loud over the wind and sounds of rushing water under Ace.

Marco talked for a long time about his brothers. Ace wished he had family, too. He was abandoned as a child and learned to live with the sea kings by himself. He liked them and would rather live with them than people who ditched him. "So how long have you been in the Calm Belt?" Marco asked curiously, changing the subject from him to Ace.

The sea king fishman didn't hesitate in his answer, "I live in the Calm Belt." Marco looked surprised. "More sea kings are here, and I like spending time with them," he added honestly. Marco frowned softly, and Ace assumed he thought he must be lonely. Probably didn't understand that sea kings communicated with him as clearly he did with fishmen and humans.

"How long have you lived here with the sea kings?" Marco asked, the sadness on his face not showing in his voice.

Ace replied honestly again. He had no reason to lie. "My parents abandoned me at a young age and I was raised by sea kings. Well, maybe 'raised' isn't the best word. They kept me company and brought me food."

Marco frowned again, and said he was sorry. Ace looked at him in bafflement. "Why would I ever want to stay with people who ditched me as a kid?"

The human said, "I guess that's true. I was never close with my family either." He explained some of his childhood next. "Since you told me about yours, I'll tell you a bit about mine. They were both abusive. Accidentally killed my baby brother. I left them and when they tried to get me back, I hit them in the face with a frying pan. Put both of them into a vegetative state. Yeah, it wasn't pretty.

"Then Pops found me when he wanted to start a crew and saw I was strong with my fruit. And the rest is history," he finished simply. They swam and flew for the whole day, and Ace had to wonder how far Marco flew from the ship and then got lost. When it was getting dark out, Ace asked if Marco slept.

"I can go a long time without sleeping, what about you?" Ace yawned, answering his question. "Where do we sleep? I can't swim or I'd drown from my devil fruit." Ace nodded and said he could fly while Ace napped.

He asked the sea king to keep swimming, and it agreed, though the speed slowed a bit. Ace situated himself on its back, flat on his stomach, and he fell asleep. He only slept for a couple hours and then woke up again, sitting up with his legs not in the water since of how big the girth was of this sea king.

Marco was gliding above, rarely flapping his wings. "I'm up, you can go faster again," Ace said, patting the sea king on the back and then rubbing it's slippery and tough skin. The sea king sped up, and by then there were more, interested in what was going on. He looked up and asked Marco how much longer he could go.

"I can go at most 32 hours without sleep." Ace whistled in impression. "Do you know how much longer until we get there?" he asked. He didn't sound impatient, but Ace could assume he missed his family or was worried about them. Though if their ship was as big as he said, many sea kings would not attack it. They might be curious, but would not attack.

Ace asked the sea king below him, who said they had a couple more miles, but he could smell and hear humans strongly. Ace crawled to the side of the sea king and stuck his face into the water, able to smell the humans in there as well. He pulled his head back out, pushing his hair out of his face.

"We're almost there. I can smell a ton of humans," Ace said to Marco. He asked what it was like to smell in the water. "It's hard to explain. Just like smelling in the air, only stronger underwater. We have many two miles left, so less than twenty minutes at best. Will your crew accept help from a sea king fishman?"

Marco looked confused. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Would humans trust a sea king fishman? They're big and strong. Plus, they might think I have a horrible temperament, even if sea kings don't kill humans for food much," he explained. "I know you said you have a shark fishman aboard your ship, but it's different."

Marco waved it off, verbally, since his arms were not able to be used. "You helped me get back and are offering to get us out of here. I don't think they'll care much. And what do you mean, sea kings don't kill humans much?" he asked, his voice turning to disbelief.

Ace replied, "They are curious. But if you piss them off, then you're in danger. Or go into their territory. But they don't hunt humans unless they're being stupid. Maybe they'll eat you if you're already dead." Marco "Hmm"ed. The ship soon came into view, a tiny dot on the horizon before it got bigger and bigger the closer they got. It was still night time, but Marco could be seen from a mile away. He was beaming in relief and happiness. His wings lit up his face so Ace could see.

"Told you I'd get you back," the fishman said.

"Thanks a lot, Ace," Marco said sincerely, and soon they were at the side of the ship. Ace thanked the sea kings and told them he'd ask another one to tow the boat if they were too tired.

"Thanks Ace. See you around. I gotta get back to my mate and babies," the biggest one said, the one Ace had been riding the whole time. Ace wished it goodbye and gave another thanks. Marco lifted him up onto the ship, where there was a group of pirates shouting about Marco's return.

Ace watched the sea kings leave, deep into the water. No humans knew about the mating habits of sea kings. How they mate for life or care for their offsprings. It bothered him that people saw sea kings as such monsters when they usually weren't. Sure, if you mess with them or violate their territories, they get mad. But they don't actively hunt humans or fishmen. They hunt sharks and whales mostly. Humans are not filling or nutritious.

Some of the pirates asked who Ace was, which brought his attention back to the situation at hand. "This is Ace. He helped me get back to the ship since I got a little turned around," Marco explained, and gave them all a _look_ when they made fun of him getting lost. "Is Pops sleeping yet?"

Marco had told Ace they called their captain "Pops" or father. It was strange to Ace, but to each their own. "Yeah, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you waking him up." The guy, who had mousy brown hair and was pressy short, wearing a green shirt, looked to Ace after answering. "Hey, my name is Haruta and thanks for leading Marco back here. I don't know how you did it."

"Sea kings brought us here," he said simply. "They're gone now, though." Haruta and the other pirates looked confused before Marco said he'd explain it in the morning. Marco gestured for Ace to come with him and they walked inside the ship, where most pirates were already asleep. Ace was amazed at how damn tall the inside of the ship was. Did they like a tall ceiling or was there someone huge here?

He learned a few minutes later when the largest door was knocked on, and there was nothing for a moment before the door opened to show the captain, who was massive, towering over Ace and Marco, and they were both relatively tall. "Marco," Whitebeard said with a grin.

"Hey, Pops. Sorry it took so long to get back. I got knocked off course. Can we talk inside?" Marco asked, having a smile as he looked at Whitebeard as well. The captain just noticed the very vibrant fishman that was white and black, near to the color of a zebra, with black hair. Whitebeard welcomed both of them in, and Ace hadn't been inside a bedroom in well, forever. He'd never been into a human establishment before he was in that mansion in the lovely tank that almost killed him.

"Pops, this is Ace. A sea king fishman. I saved him from a noble and he led me back to the ship. He's offered to help us get out of the Calm Belt," Marco said, getting straight to the point. Whitebeard looked surprised by all of that.

"Thank you, Ace, for returning Marco here. So, you can communicate with sea kings?" Ace nodded. "That's very interesting. And how do you plan to get us out of the Calm Belt?" the captain asked curiously, no suspicion or dislike in his voice. He hadn't reacted much to hearing what type of fishman Ace was. He wasn't even upset that Ace was _any_ sort of fishman.

Ace flattened down some of the spines on his arm and said, "I'll ask some sea kings to tow your ship. You've drifted in pretty far. It'll take maybe a day, since your ship is so big and probably very heavy," Ace explained. Whitebeard nodded and thanked him. "You're very kind to help us."

Ace shrugged. "More like repaying a debt," he replied. His stomach roared and he remembered just how long it'd been since he last ate. And it was audible, both humans hearing it. Ace didn't blush, not minding if anyone knew he was hungry. Maybe they'd feed him. He was hungry as hell.

Marco offered to get him some food in the galley. "I'll see you in the morning, Pops," Marco said, and Whitebeard wished him goodnight. Before he said that, he offered Ace the empty bedroom in the commanders' hallway.

When they entered the galley, it was a massive room with huge, long tables with benches and then a massive kitchen with a large bar counter. "Usually Thatch does the cooking, but he's asleep. He can make some breakfast in the morning if you're still hungry." Oh, yes, Ace would still be hungry.

"Thanks," Ace said, and sat at the bar counter.

"I'm getting you leftovers of whatever they had last night," Marco replied. "I'm useless with cooking," he added, heating up whatever meat and rice that was.

"You're not completely useless, you can always serve as a bad example." Marco laughed at that, and had his own serving of the dish. He sat next to Ace as they both ate, both of them very hungry. After they finished, Marco washed the dishes and put them away.

He explained that the chef hated anyone "unqualified" in the kitchen when he wasn't there. "I thought you were a commander. Can't you do whatever you want?" Ace asked as he led the fishman back to the commanders' hall.

"No, Thatch is the head chef so he's in charge of the kitchen. Just like Curiel is head doctor, Fossa is the head shipwright, etc." He showed Ace into the room next to his, which had a "2" on the door, for the second division commander. Ace asked why he was being given a nice room and not a crappy one. He wasn't exactly a commander. "You brought me here and are going to help us out of the Calm Belt. You deserve to sleep somewhere nice. Hang on a sec," he added, and walked into his own room while Ace dusted off the sheets. It was clear no one had slept in there for awhile.

Marco came back with a pair of loose pants. "You can sleep in these," he said. Ace thanked him, and Marco said he'd wake him in the morning for breakfast. "Night, Ace. Thanks, again, for bringing me back." Ace replied with a smile, and closed the door.

He changed into the pants, leaving his soggy shorts in the shower, since there was a small bathroom attached to the room. That was nice. Ace didn't know how to work the shower. Not that he needed one. Unlike humans, fishman hair is not affected by seawater, and they don't sweat. Plus, they live in the water most of the time. It's not like he had to bathe regularly. If they did bathe it was mostly for comfort.

He crawled under the blankets and relaxed on the bed. _This is nice,_ he thought, and drifted to sleep.


	2. Growing Closer

#### Huong96: Thank you!

#### Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: :)

#### Iris Viggiano: Thank you! I've started to make art for some of my newer stories. There's one for a couple of them. 

**autistic_zombie_boy: Thank you! And I love your House of Wolves story! It even made me want to write an ASL werewolves story. Not finished, but it's floating around in my docs. :)**

**Otaku_Girl2176: I love when people say my stories are unique and original . >///< **

**chickie434: Ace wasn't completely alone at least. But yeah, he missed out on baby Luffy, which I would have made freaking adorable. I can't NOT make an adorable baby Luffy.**

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**Wow! So many comments! Thank you! Ace and Marco grow closer in this one but the romance starts next chapter. Enjoy~**

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Marco surprised everyone when he was at breakfast the next morning, towing a very vibrant fishman with him, a stranger, who looked sleepy still. He was shirtless and in shorts, barefoot as well. When he and Ace sat at the commanders' table, Ace dug into his food like a starving animal.

"Uh, who's this?" Thatch asked. Haurta explained that he was Ace and had brought Marco back last night. Ace held a hand up in greeting. "You're a fishman?" Marco knew it was a bit of an obvious question but Ace just nodded as a piece of bacon was in his mouth. He seemed to eat everything that was given to him, even if Marco was sure he'd never had it. How would he eat rice in the ocean?

Namur, the only fishman on the crew, moved seats to sit nearer to his fellow fishman. Izo was sitting beside Ace, and eyed the spines on him in discomfort. Ace noticed this and said, "Don't worry, they won't hurt anyone as long as they're flat." Izo didn't look much more comforted, but didn't eye them again. "So, what kind of fishman are you? Never seen one looking like you before."

Ace really did look unique. Marco had never met a fishman with such a human looking face and body. The only showing that he was a fishman was the obvious coloring, spines, and webbed fingers. Less webbed than Namur's but webbed nonetheless.

"Sea king," Ace said simply, taking a deep drink of his orange juice. The table was quiet for a moment, before Namur disputed him, saying there was no such thing. Marco stuck up for Ace, knowing by proof that he was what he said he was.

Marco said, "He's telling the truth. A sea king led us back here. Ace rode on it's back the whole time. That's how he's planning to get us out of the Calm Belt. Sea kings will drag the ship back to Paradise," the phoenix explained. The table grew quiet, believing Marco.

"I've never heard of one. Sorry for doubting you," Namur apologized. Ace waved it off, saying he understood. That he'd never heard of anyone else like him. "What about your parents?" Ace shook his head.

"My mother was a lemon shark and my father was a human," he explained. Everything he said sounded so simple even if it was actually shocking. Marco's eyebrows raised and now he understood why Ace's features were more human than how normal fishmen usually looked. Even Marco knew interspecies relationships were taboo to some. It happened, but fishmen looked down on it especially.

Marco glaned to Namur, though he didn't look bothered. After all, he called a human father, even if it wasn't biological. "So you have no relation to any other sea king fishman?" Izo wondered. Ace shrugged, and Marco knew it was because both of them ditched Ace as a kid. Of course he didn't know. But he didn't go into detail about that.

"Hey, Ace, have you ever met any of the royalty at Fishman Island? I thought only a mermaid would have your power," Whitebeard said, joining the conversation after just listening until then. Ace shook his head. He'd never been to Fishman Island, only the Calm Belt.

"Never been to Fishman Island. I've lived in the Calm Belt most of my life," Ace replied. Marco asked how old he was. "Nineteen." Marco was surprised how young he was. He acted much older, but also younger at the same time. Like telling those nobles that his owner fucked a doll. He shared that with the table, and they all laughed.

Then Marco added that he had been poisoned with ammonia as a consequence. "I don't know why he hadn't done that earlier. I mean, I called the guy a prick basically at every chance. Thought if I annoyed him enough he'd let me go." Izo asked if he wasn't tortured. Shocking everyone, Ace took one of the sharp knives and slammed it down on his arm. Everyone shouted in shock before they saw the knife had bent and his arm was unharmed. "He couldn't hurt me any other way than poisoning or starving."

Everyone at the table was interested in the kid. Marco as well. After he was done with his food, he asked when they wanted to start going. The commanders looked to Pops

"Why don't we get started now?" the captain asked. Ace replied that he needed chains or cable wire so it wouldn't break. Marco offered to collect some, and Ace went to the railing outside and jumped in. He was under for a good five minutes before coming out with three sea kings, all of them as big as the biggest last night, and they situated themselves in front of the ship. Everyone was watching, a bit uneasy with the creatures, even though they showed no hostility.

Marco threw Ace the chain, and he caught the heavy metal with ease, showing he was actually pretty strong. He walked along the heads of the sea kings, and no one could hear what he was saying to them when they opened their mouths and accepted the large chain. They were hooked to the ship's deck, which was Adam's wood, so it wouldn't break.

Ace thanked the sea kings and Marco went to pick him up. The sea kings didn't wait to start swimming, dragging the Moby Dick along easily. Ace stood on the figurehead, watching the sea kings with a smile on. Marco walked up next to him.

"We really appreciate this," Marco said. Ace shrugged.

"It's no problem. Didn't really have anything else to do," he replied. He turned and gave Marco a bright smile. "The food is pretty good, even if I have no idea what I'm eating. And the bed was pretty nice, too," he added. "Kind of want to take a nap, but don't want to leave this alone. I don't want any misunderstandings about humans."

Marco offered to bring out a pillow and he could nap on the figurehead. After all, Ace was used to being wet so the seaspray wouldn't bother him. He took him up on the offer, and Marco went to get a pillow for him. He also got a blanket and laid it down for Ace, who laid on his stomach and fell asleep with his face in the pillow. It seemed the spines changed during sleep since they all started to poke out again just slightly, not resting flat anymore. Maybe it was a natural instinct for protection while vulnerable.

Namur didn't have anything like that, just sharp teeth and incredible jaw strength. Ace most definitely did not have that, as his teeth were like a human's. He was glad he was immune to the spines when he didn't know about them.

Marco kept track of the sea kings, and they weren't doing anything but dragging the ship. The crew grew nervous when more and more popped up, curious about what was going on. Marco couldn't wait to be out of the Calm Belt. It was relaxing, sure with no storms, but they were unable to go anywhere but drift slowly, and the sea kings were not exactly fun to deal with.

But those that had gathered to watch left. They didn't attack or interfere, thankfully. The ship was pulled along a bit slowly, nowhere near as fast as last night when Ace was riding one. At midday, Marco woke Ace up and his spines flattened slowly again. "What?"

"The sea kings stopped pulling." Ace stood up and walked to the edge, asking what was happening. None of the pirates could hear anything coming from the sea kings, but Ace could. He turned to Marco and told him they were hungry and were leaving. "Don't worry, I'll go ask some more," he said and dived off the ship and into the water just like that.

It took longer this time to get more, even though many were trailing the ship from below. Fifteen minutes Ace was underwater. But he eventually came out, only this time the sea king was many, many times bigger than the Moby Dick. It would crush them to pieces, but instead it took all three chains and pulled, much faster than the smaller ones that had been doing it for hours. Ace slid down it's neck and to the base of the whale figurehead, where Marco flew him back up the ship.

The pirates looked terrified of the creature. Never had any of them seen a sea king of this size, and they hoped to never see it again. Even Pops was uneasy. Ace noticed their expressions. "There's no need to be afraid. It's not gonna eat the ship. Besides, ones these big don't go near humans, they stay in deeper. That's what took me so long," he said pushing his wet hair out of his face.

Still, they were uncomfortable, and a few even grew angry with how flippant about it he was. "You're fine since it wouldn't eat you!" one of Marco's own divisions shouted. Marco stared at him coldly.

"Ace is helping us get out of the Calm Belt on his own will. I didn't ask him, so you will not disrespect him. If he says the sea king won't eat us, then the sea king won't eat us," Marco said sternly. "Do you understand me?" Ronny nodded, looking frightened by the response. Ace looked awkward about it, brows furrowed. Ace said nothing and turned around to jump into the water and walk up the sea king's neck to rest on its head. Many of the pirates shot glares at Ronny.

Ace was napping on the sea king's head as it swam smoothly, on his back and facing the sky. He snored a little bit, probably not used to sleeping in the air. He told Marco he mostly lived in the water. He turned on his side, using his hands as pillows. He didn't notice Marco fly just above the sea king's head and put a pillow under Ace's head. The sea king didn't react to him being so close, and Marco's heart was hammering before he flew back to the deck.

He may not be injured by them, but they were still unsettling and made even the strongest of pirates fearful. He understood where his brothers were coming from, but the sea king had shown no hostility. It had Marco second guessing the nature of the beasts. They had been helpful for Ace and Marco. None of those that gathered after Ace came had made any show of aggression.

Of course, Ace was connected to them differently than any of the humans or even other fishman. Marco worried about someone finding Ace again, and doing much worse than putting him in a barred tank, not that that wasn't horrible. If he could control, or at least communicate, with sea kings then the rest of the world would want that power. The safest for him would be to stay in the Calm Belt where he is surrounded by them.

But he couldn't help but wish Ace would stay with them. He was smart and kind and funny. Whitebeard was there, looking down at Marco. "So how'd you find him?" Pops asked curiously. He knew Marco found him in a tank but that was really all there was to the story so far.

"I found some nobles on an island, they shot at me, so I killed them. I went looking around for any maps and found Ace dying in the tank. He pleaded for me to let him out, so I broke the glass and cage. He embarrassed the noble that kept him so he poured ammonia into the tank. In thanks for me saving him, he agreed to take me back here and then help us out of the Calm Belt." He laughed once and told Whitebeard about how he treated the noble.

The captain laughed, and they both looked at the napping fishman. "So, have you ever heard of a sea king fishman?" Marco questioned. Pops shook his head.

"I know princess Shirahoshi can speak to sea kings, but I know that it's only a mermaid that can do this. Unless there have been more who just reside in the Calm Belt without people learning of their ability," the captain explained. "I don't know how Fishman Island would take this, especially since he's half human. He'd be stigmatized and rejected just for that." Marco nodded in agreement.

"He's a good kid. Shame he won't come with us, right?" Pops asked, eyeing Marco strangely. Marco furrowed his brows, wondering what he meant. But before he could ask, the sea king sped up, and the ship was going at a much faster pace. Ace woke up, and the pillow fell into the sea. The spines on his back and extremities retracted and grew flat against his black and white skin.

Marco called, "Ace! What's it doing?!"

Ace shouted, "We're getting close!" and then hung on tightly to the sea king as it went faster. Marco was thrown back by the speed, and thank goodness the sails were furled or they would have ripped. Pops caught Marco before he hit the deck. Other pirates were shouting, and Marco could hear Ace whooping happily, hair flying backwards as he clung to the sea king.

Then the sea king disappeared, the chains released, and the wind was back. The pirates cheered happily at being out of the Calm Belt, where they'd been helpless for over two weeks. There was no other way they could have gotten out other than by Ace's help. The fishman was in the water, and Marco worried he'd just left without saying goodbye, but he heard Ace calling over the side of the ship.

Marco flew down and picked Ace up. He was grinning. "Well, there you go. You're out of the Calm Belt," he said in a cheery voice, hair plastered to his face until he pushed it back. People rushed Ace to pick him up, but Marco stepped in front of them.

Thatch complained, asking why Marco was hoarding their savior. "He has poisonous spines. Don't jump on his back," he explained. The pirates looked surprised besides those who'd been at the table that morning. Ace had said it'd take much longer than it did, but maybe that had depended on what size or speed the sea kings were.

"Thank you, Ace!" the pirate shouted, though they didn't dogpile him. Ace looked at the flag flapping in the wind, seeming confused. Marco smiled.

"Wind is pretty cool, isn't it?" he asked, since Ace had never been out of the Calm Belt, he'd never been in the presence of wind. He closed his eyes and nodded, his hair flying around his face.

He opened his eyes again and smiled at everyone. "Well this was real fun-"

"Join us," Marco said before he could stop himself, and he clamped his mouth shut, eyes slowly drifting up to see Pops' reaction.

"Want to become a pirate? You get the wind everywhere if you do," Whitebeard said in his deep voice. "Surely you don't want to spend all your life locked in the Calm Belt?" Ace looked confused, and pursed his lips together. Marco wondered what he was thinking, and the deck was not quiet to let him do so in peace.

Some were dancing about being out of the hopeless Calm Belt, about being free again and _never going back._ "It'll be fun. If you don't like it, then we can always take you back. Or a sea king could do it for you," Marco said, breaking Ace out of his thoughts. It seemed knowing he had a way out made him decide. The commanders were all quiet and curious.

"Sure. Why not?" Ace asked, and smiled. The pirates cheered loudly, and Marco noticed Namur looked relieved.

"Finally! Now I won't be the only one rescuing you idiots who get caught in storms," the shark fishman said, and the commanders laughed and patted his back. Ace was grinning brightly, and Marco had one back. Pops watched his first mate in amusement.

"Welcome to the crew, Ace. You know usually it's much harder to get a recruit when it's us asking," Pops said cheerily. He laughed, and Ace looked genuinely excited. Marco was glad he was staying, felt like he'd connected with Ace. he was glad he found him in that tank and saved him, didn't leave him as not his problem.

-x-

Ace loved the wind. It was amazing, even when it was so strong in a storm that it blew some of the pirates off of the ship and into the water. He and Namur, the only two fishmen on the ship, would always rescue them. Ace knew most were more comfortable with Namur in the water since, after they left the Calm Belt, sea kings were seen more often.

They didn't do anything to anyone or the ship. And Marco had pointed out that, though they spotted more in the last week, they had less attacks. Ace enjoyed his time with the pirates. Especially Marco and Namur. Namur was the only fishman Ace had come across since he was a little kid. He shared stories with him of Fishman Island, and the lore of it.

Marco was sitting with him on deck one night, and they were talking lightly about a lot of things. Whitebeard was there, and though Ace's new friends tried to get him to call him Pops, the man himself didn't push Ace to do so. The three were talking, Ace sitting on the deck next to Whitebeard, with Marco sitting on his shoulder.

"So, Ace, we're heading to the New World. The second part of the Grand Line. Have you ever been to Fishman Island? Cause we're gonna be visiting there to get to the New World. And I'd like to talk with King Neptune about your peculiar power."

Ace shook his head, taking a big gulp of the sake. "Never been there. Never felt the need to. But I'll admit, being around people is nice. Fishman or not," he replied. He got up to refill his mug from the keg, and brought it back over.

It was night time, and a huge sea king came up next to the ship, which filled with screams. But the sea king looked straight at Ace. "What are you doing here?" Ace looked confused.

"Um, I joined this crew. Is there a problem?" Ace asked.

"You should not be with humans," the beast replied. Ace asked why. "They will use you. You should not be with them." Ace frowned and said he thought he was fine. Told it not to worry. The deck was silent now, many drunken pirates had run inside, stumbling against the walls. The sea king sunk back into the water and disappeared.

"Oi, Ace! Stop havin' your buddies stop 'ere!" Haruta shouted drunkenly. Thatch burst into giggles, also heavily intoxicated. Haruta burst into laughter as well. Ace sat back down, and looked uneasy.

Marco hesitantly asked what is asked. So Ace told him and the captain, "Told me I should not be with humans. That they will use me." The captain and first mate both frowned.

Whitebeard said, "Well, no one here will do that, I can assure you. And on islands, you must be ready for racism against you, half human or not. But as long as no one learns what you are, you should be fine. Plus, you're strong." Marco nodded in agreement. Ace nodded, but felt uneasy. He didn't regret coming, he enjoyed all of the completely new experiences, but the sea king's worry bothered him.

Ace was part of Namur's division, for obvious reasons. His division was the most accepting since he was their commander. Some of the pirates subtly did not like either fishman, but Ace didn't let it bother him. He liked the commanders. And Namur and Marco were both safe for him since they were both immune to his spines. Marco because of his devil fruit, and Namur's skin was too tough for them to puncture unless he did so on purpose.

The newbie had no problem with fishing the humans out of the ocean when they fell in, which was surprisingly often. During large storms, where Ace helped how he could, at least one pirate fell off the ship and into the water. Namur or Ace saved them.

When Ace went to bed that night, in a spare room since it was unsafe for him to sleep in close proximity to any of his division, he felt conflicted. He trusted sea kings, they liked him. But why was it worried about the Whitebeards? They already had a fishman aboard. He fell asleep, anyways, and had peaceful dreams he forgot the moment a knock on his door woke him up.

He got up and saw Marco there, smiling brightly. "Time for breakfast. Whoa, what's wrong with you?" he asked in surprise and concern. Ace looked baffled and then looked where Marco was looking. He had poison dripping from his spines, down his black and white patterned skin. "I'll go get a towel," the first mate said and hurried to get a towel from the nearest bathroom.

Ace looked at the trail that led to his bed, which was soaked in it from the spines on Ace's back and legs. He touched them, but they didn't hurt. Felt a little dry. Maybe he needed to spend more time in the water or the spines would be damaged. He gathered the sheets together, glad that it hadn't seeped into the mattress.

Marco came back and wiped Ace's back and arms, covering the formerly-white towel in dark purple. "Sorry, I have no idea what happened, but it made a mess," Ace said. Marco said it was fine, and good that he slept by himself. "Yeah. This could be dangerous for anybody besides you and Namur."

The first mate stopped pressing on the spines when he noticed pressure pushed more out. Like it was built up inside and overflowing. He took the towel down and pinched the base of one of the spines, which more poison seeped out. "I think the poison built up in the spines and is now leaking," he said in interest.

"Maybe it has to do with me mostly being out of water now. What do I do about it?" Ace asked in worry.

"Let's got to the commanders' bathroom and we can do this on the floor. I think pushing out the poison might stop the build up. One of them has already stopped leaking after I pinched it." Ace thanked him and brought the sheets, too, and they hurried through the ship and to the more private bathroom.

Ace sat on the sheets, and he worked on pushing the poison out of his arms while Marco continued to work on the thicker ones on his back. "You know, we might be able to bottle this stuff and keep it as a weapon," Marco said absentmindedly as they both worked. Once the back ones were clean, and Ace had finished with those on the backs of his forearms, Marco took one leg and Ace the other.

"What if it got out and someone got hurt?" Ace asked. He cared for these pirates already. He cared for his new friends and probable future brothers.

"We'd do our best to keep it locked up, but it's your choice to make," Marco said, done with Ace's left leg. He wiped his poisoned covered hands off on the towel. "We should both take showers. I'll use my shower and you can use the second division's. Then we will wipe everything in here down." the floor had the poison pooled on it, and wiping it up with a towel wouldn't do anything if someone stepped on the remnants.

Marco got a trash bag from under the sink and stuffed the sheets and towels inside. Having other people try and clean them would be dangerous. "I'm sorry," Ace said, looking at his poison covered body. Marco put his hand on his head.

"Not your fault. You didn't know this would happen," Marco said reassuringly. Ace thanked him. "Though, maybe if we put little sponges on the end of the spines, it might suck up anything still leaking out. You go shirtless regardless. Might be safer and less messy. But, we're showering and washing off before that." Ace nodded, and Marco put a "do not enter" sign on the door.

Ace went into the second division commander's bathroom and Marco gave him soap and a scrubber. Ace showered, watching the dark purple liquid seep into the drain with the water, steadily growing less and less vibrant until the water was colorless.

He gently but strongly wiped down the spines with the scrubber, getting off any crusty and dry parts. He dried off with the towel waiting there. Marco was already out when Ace stepped back into the hall. His bedroom door was slightly open and Ace saw a bit of a mess inside. For such an organized guy like Marco, the messy room was a surprise.

Marco had already wiped everything down with bleach when Ace entered the bathroom. Marco looked up and called him over. He had a pair of scissors and sponges, along with plastic bags. It was like he was doing an art and craft project. "We should test and see when they leak, if they do again," Marco said, and Ace noticed he was wearing gloves. "Turn around?" And Ace did. He saw in the mirror by looking over his shoulder as Marco gently slid small sponges he cut up onto the spines. They covered the tips, and Marco shaped pieces of plastic around the new little plugs.

His arms and legs were another story. He could not use his arms with bits of spones hanging off the side. "Maybe we can make a thin layer of the sponge to go across the ones on my arms and legs, and then tape it down," Ace offered. Marco laughed.

"You enjoying arts and crafts together?" he asked.

"Never knew arts and crafts involved lethal poison and sponges," Ace replied with good humor. Marco left to get some tape from his office, and they laid a cut up sponge along the exposed spines and then taped it down. "I look weird, don't I?"

Marco nodded. "A bit, but it's for everyone's safety. Well, at least now you probably won't ever bunk with anyone else. You'll get a room to yourself," he offered, trying to find something good about the situation. Ace sighed.

"That mattress is better than sleeping on nothing, but the commander's bed was like heaven. Ahh, it was so comfortable," Ace said dreamily, thinking about the wonderful bed.

"Become a commander and you'll get the bed," Marco said lightly as they both put the left over sponge and plastic into the bathroom's trash can. They made sure there was no poison on the counter or tiles. Ace didn't know how the poison would affect humans, but when it poked fish, it killed them in only a few minutes. Plus, he couldn't really tell with Marco.

Ace looked at his covered arms and legs and wondered if he'd have to do this all of the time. "If this becomes regular, where you have to force the built up poison out, you can ask me for help since I'm immune. You can't reach the ones on your back by yourself," Marco offered. They were heading out on deck to dispose of the contaminated fabrics and trash.

Ace smiled at him. "Thanks, Marco. It means a lot. Sorry about it, I didn't even know that this happened since I was always in the water," Ace replied. Marco pat his back and returned the smile. "I don't think the commander life is for me, by the way. Then you have to be more responsible. Yuck." Marco laughed.

"Well, the benefits are pretty nice. Say on what to do and where to go, your own big nice room and private bathroom. It's not for everybody, but I enjoy it," he replied honestly. They were both heading to the galley to get breakfast since they were over an hour later than Marco had planned that morning.

Ace said, "You don't count. You're crazy enough to want to be first mate, you can't convince me that normal people would enjoy it." Marco ruffled his hair affectionately with a smile.

The two both got food and headed to the commander's table, where Ace sat since he didn't really fit in anywhere else yet. Whe he sat down, Namur looked at the state of him, but it was Vista that asked what was with the get up. Ace was sitting between Namur and Marco, the only people his spines were safe with.

"Ace had some trouble with his spines this morning. They were leaking. We had to push the excess poison out and then we put sponges on them in case they leak again," Marco explained simply. Ace watched the reactions of the commanders, wondering what they would do.

Thatch asked, "Is it safe?"

Ace said, "As long as it doesn't get on anyone but Marco and Namur. I honestly don't know how it would affect humans. Never been around them, but it kills off fish and other marine life quickly if they get punctured." Thatch eyed the dressing nervously. "Don't worry, it won't get on anyone if they aren't leaking. When they're not, and they're flat, they can't puncture anything," he added in a calm voice, trying to project his calmness on the others. It worked for the most part, but they still were wary.

They ate breakfast with light small talk, before Whitebeard began talking about their course. "We were already near the end of Paradise when we drifted into the Calm Belt, so we're stopping at Sabaody first to get the ship coated and restocked."

Ace was excited to go on an island. It showed on his face, and the pirates gave him a sad look. "What's on the island?" he asked, and then noticed the expressions. "What's wrong?" Marco spoke, voice sad.

"You shouldn't go on the island," he said simply. Ace asked why. "Sabaody is notorious for their mistreatment of merfolk and fishmen. There are slave auctions for those. If you could hide what you were, like a mermaid wearing a dress, then it would be safe to go on. But your markings are so obvious that it would be dangerous for you," the first mate explained.

"But-"

"It's not just you that would be in danger. You're part of our crew now, so we'd fight to protect you, but if any of us harmed the Celestial Dragons, the top of the World Noble scum, then we could be attacked as a whole from the marines," Marco continued. Everyone looked at Ace's sad expression with pity.

Ace was silent, completely disappointed. Well, he'd take that time they were there to swim. He hadn't been in the water enough lately. "We're really sorry, Ace," Thatch said with a soft voice. Ace picked at his food with his fork.

"Not your fault," Ace mumbled. "I don't get why fishmen are treated badly. What's so bad about them?" he asked, voice a little sour.

Izo took a sip of his coffee and said, "Racism. That's pretty much it. Fishman are different from humans, and many humans see that as bad, and reject them. They look down on fishmen for looking different. It's really quite shallow but the problem is deep rooted in society. Fishmen hate humans for how awful they are to them." The commanders nodded. "We musnt let anyone know your half human down at Fishman Island. They don't look kindly to hybrids."

Namur sighed and said, "He has a lot of human characteristics, though. It wouldn't be hard to figure it out. Namely the shape and features on his face." It was true that Ace did not look like a fishman in many aspects. Compared to Namur, Ace looked like he was a human wearing body paint with the spines glued to his body.

Ace sighed. "This Fishman Island sounds terrible." Marco pat his back, above where the spins started.

"Only for humans who they don't trust. They trust us since we protect the island with Pops' name. You're one of us now, they have to trust you, too. We should come up with a cover. What kind of fishman you are, not a sea king one. For one, they might think you are lying, or they might see you as a chance for something," Marco explained. Ace looked down at his hands, the black and white patterns. The sea king had been partially right, it was not good to be with humans.

But the Whitebeards were an exception. He didn't feel anything hostile or underhanded with them. And he had good instincts. To be honest, fellow fishman seemed more of a danger to Ace than the Whitebeards were. He put his fork down, knowing he wasn't hungry anymore. He took a deep drink of his orange juice and stood up.

"I'm going to go get some air," Ace said and left the room, going outside. Everyone was eating at the moment, so there was no one out on deck. He leaned over the railing, his forearms resting on it. None of his spines seemed to be leaking anymore, so that was good.

A sea king swam up from under them, slowly growing visible until it was beaching the surface. It stared at Ace as it swam beside the ship. "Hey," Ace said, sticking a hand out. The sea king bumped its head into his hand before swimming away. There were so few sea kings out on the open ocean compared to the Calm Belt.

Marco came out not much later and stood next to the railing. They were both quiet until Marco spoke first. "I'm sorry the world politics are not in your favor," he said simply. Ace didn't reply, so Marco kept talking. "You don't really fit in anywhere. Too fishman to look human, too human to look fishman." Ace thought that was definitely the description he was thinking. "But, you're a pirate now. Who cares what the world thinks of us? We do what we want, right?" Ace nodded, but still was a bit down. Marco looked at him in worry, though Ace didn't see it. "Do you regret coming now?"

"No, I never said that. I just didn't know what to expect. It's not like it was imagining some utopia and then this is a disappointment," Ace replied, and Marco saw an inaudible sigh. "I wish everyone weren't so worried about the sea kings."

Marco said, "That's not gonna go away. Sea kings, to humans, are known for their brutality. Even to fishman, sea kings are off limits. Besides you and Shirahoshi." When Ace looked curious, Marco continued, "She can call sea kings to her, but even she doesn't communicate with them like you do. That makes you very unique and very valuable to some people. We'll need to protect you."

Ace was offended. He was not weak, he was strong. He hadn't gotten the chance to show it off, so the pirates probably only thought he could poison or sic sea kings on enemies. "I'm not weak, you don't need to protect me," he said in a clipped tone. "I'll show you." Marco looked curious and Ace kicked him in the stomach so hard he went flying across the deck. He slammed into the wall and coughed. Ace was still there with his leg raised.

Marco looked shocked, clearly not expecting it, though he was unhurt. Ace started laughing. "That's what you get for underestimating me!" Marco flew forward and pinned him to the deck. He punched Ace and soon they got into a "sparring session" that was mostly rolling around and punching and kicking. Ace was laughing, and soon Marco joined in.

"Cocky brat," Marco accused, but it was a lighthearted jab. Ace was lying on the deck, arms behind his head and was just smiling softly.

"Thanks for saving me. Would have been embarrassing to die due to being poisoned inside a fish tank," Ace said, though not sounding upset. More wistful. Marco agreed that it would have been pathetic. He thanked him for bringing him back and getting them out of the Calm Belt.

Ace sat up and looked at his arms and legs, and pulled the tape off slightly, to see that nothing more had leaked out. "My back leaking?" he asked Marco, who leaned back a bit to see.

"No, nothing. I think we'll end up needing to clear them out routinely if it builds up," the first mate said calmly. Ace asked if it disgusted him. "No, I wouldn't eat it or anything, but it just looked like purple lotion, and it doesn't stink. It makes my skin burn for a second, but not too bad." Ace smiled at him and thanked him. Marco smiled back, and stayed sitting while Ace laid back down.


	3. Infatuation

**KamekoEND: That part was one of my favorites to write. A lot of stuff happens there.**

**Manal: There's a lot more to come, don't worry!**

**Otaku_Girl2176: More cute and - ehem -steamy later on.**

**Chickie434: Fishman island is super fun, so much shit happens. Excuse my language lol**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: They get so cute and close together as the story continues.**

#### Iris Viggiano: Don't worry, he'll be very happy soon.

* * *

**Some steaminess in this chapter, but not too graphic. *winky eyes* A shorter chapter this time. Enjoy~**

* * *

Marco was getting ready for bed when Ace came. The commander was shirtless and in pajama pants, not the pair that were given to Ace, and had just brushed his teeth when a soft knock on the door was made. Marco was sure all the other commanders had gone to bed, but he opened the door and saw Ace there, in a pair of sleep shorts.

"What's up?" Marco asked curiously. "Come on in," he said, thinking Ace had something he needed to talk about or his spines started to leak again. Though he could see they were perfectly clean and not making a mess all over Ace. "Everything okay?" he asked in concern.

Ace didn't reply and instead grabbed Marco's hair and smashed his lips against the human's. Marco was shocked for a minute before he sunk his hands into Ace's soft black hair and ravaged his mouth in equal enthusiasm. He pushed Ace down on the bed, and kissed him passionately. Ace's hands moved from his hair to down his neck and back, turning his head and fighting for dominance in the kiss, even though Ace stayed under Marco.

The full human moved his lips down Ace's neck and chest, leaving hickeys on the white parts of his body, unable to do so on the black areas. He bit and nipped at his soft but thick skin. They hadn't said a single thing since Ace attacked Marco in the most pleasant way. He moved his hands lower and started to tug at Ace's shorts-

Marco's eyes flew open when a knock on his door was made. He was so disoriented by the dream that it took him a moment to realize it had not been real. Ace hadn't come to his room before bed. Did not kiss Marco. And he felt utter disappointment. And anger at himself. He sighed and rubbed his hands down his face before sitting up and going to see who was at the door. He wished it was Ace, but it wasn't. It was Haruta. "What?" he asked in a tired voice.

Haruta frowned. "Are you okay? Your face is bright red," he said in concern. Marco sighed, and thought of the dream unintentionally. It was distracting, and Marco was genuinely irate that it was not a reality. Great. Just great, now he was going to be pining after a brother because he had a dirty dream.

"No, I'm fine. What did you need?" Marco asked, trying to not think about the dream.

"We're having a meeting about Sabaody. We're getting closer, we'll be there by tomorrow. At least that's what Namur says," Haruta explained, and Marco put a shirt on and his sandals walking with Haruta to the meeting room. He was so distracted by the dream, how real it felt. How soft Ace's lips were, how Marco's lips felt against his skin. He clenched his teeth, trying to not think about it.

When they passed Ace's guest room, he saw the door was open and Ace wasn't in there. But there was a purple mess on the bed. Looked like they leaked again. Marco would get the meeting over quickly and then go and help Ace with the messy problem he couldn't fix on his own.

Everyone was already in there, including Pops. Marco and Haruta sat in their designated spaces, and the conversation began. It was nothing new, docking at Sabaody and getting their ship coated. They'd made the trip many times over the years. The only new thing was Ace. And the fact that he was not allowed to go on the island.

Namur rarely went on the island either, but he was not banned. Only Ace. He was the most interesting and captivating looking fishman, and he'd already been captured once. Marco felt bad for him, and was successfully able to keep his mind out of the gutter during the whole conversation.

Ace was going to be allowed to go swimming while the ship was docked and coated. So, the meeting was short. They were heading to Fishman Island as soon as possible after the coating was done. They voted on whether to stay and have fun and go sightseeing, or to be kind to Ace and not going when he was not allowed to. They voted on the latter option. Marco left quickly once the meeting was adjourned and the other commanders were going to breakfast.

Marco went to the commander's bathroom, having a feeling Ace was in there because it was more private and the danger of someone touching the poison was lower. He did find Ace there, washing off his hands and then scrubbing the floor. Looked like he was done.

"Everything okay?" Marco asked, voice catching in the most embarrassing way. Ace looked up and nodded.

"There was another leak, but only out of the spines on my back. I prematurely got the poison out of the other spines. You don't have to help if you don't want to," Ace said, but Marco was quick to reply.

"I do want to help you," he said and Ace smiled brightly and thanked him. Marco stared at his lips as they turned upwards in a smile. They looked so soft and plump. Marco wanted to kiss him so bad. He didn't know why he was feeling this. Ace was nice and funny and unique and _strong._ Marco had no doubt he couldn't break Ace no matter how rough he got with him.

"Marco? What's wrong?" Ace asked in concern. He licked his lip nervously and Marco's control snapped. He hurried towards Ace and grabbed his face, much like Ace did in his dream, and pressed their lips together. Ace didn't respond at first and Marco's control went back and he felt horror at what he'd done. How would Ace react. He wasn't moving, and neither did Marco, not wanting to see Ace's face.

Ace's hands wandered up Marco's back and shoulders hesitatntly before he slowly pushed him away, breaking Marco's heart. "Why did you do that?" he asked quietly, sounding genuinely confused. Marco's heart was beating a mile a minute, while Ace looked perfectly calm, if not a bit sad. Marco wondered why he was sad. Had he made him sad?

"I think I like you," Marco said, sounding unsure. "I don't know for sure, but I want to find out." The second part came out stronger. He leaned forward again, making sure Ace could stop him if he wanted, and Marco kissed him again. Ace reacted this time, and wrapped his arms around Marco's shoulders, opening his mouth in the kiss. Marco got rough with him, unable to help it, grabbing him tightly, biting on his bottom lip and escalating the kissing exponentially until Ace was pulling at his hair as well. He didn't seem to mind the roughness.

Ace dug his fingernails down Marco's back, drawing flames, probably in response to Marco biting his lip too hard. Marco groaned into the kiss, the flames feeling pleasant. He backed Ace up till he was against the wall as Marco's lips moved from Ace's down to his jaw and neck, leaving hickeys.

"W-wait," Ace breathed out. Marco stopped immediately, backing up, also panting with his lips pink and a little swollen. Ace lifted up his arm to show that poison had started dripping from the spines there. Marco burst into laughter, making Ace blush. The pink showed on the white parts of his face. "N-Not funny, it'll make a dangerous mess." Marco was still smiling, face and chest flushed.

They both caught their breaths and went to work on cleaning the poison and making the little stoppers again, just for prevention. "I take it you were really turned on by our kissing. That's a funny way your body shows it," Marco said and Ace smacked him roughly in the stomach.

"I'm glad you're taking it seriously, since it could poison your brothers by touching it," Ace said shortly. Marco suddenly came to himself, and saw what was left of the floor below Ace, which was a puddle of dark purple that had come from his arms and legs, not his back.

"Shit," Marco said unhelpfully. He got to work scrubbing the floor while Ace washed off his arms and legs in the shower that Marco said was mostly unused. He was worried. Marco wanted to kiss him more, but if the poison comes out faster when he was turned on, then that could be bad. He glared at the puddle. Ace kissed him back (and was a great kisser) and here he could end up injuring someone on accident from it.

Ace came out of the shower, looking miserable. Marco walked over and touched his face softly, a much different show of affection than the forceful kissing. "I'm sorry," Ace apologized. "I'm gonna end up hurting someone." Marco took both cheeks and tilted his head up.

"Not your fault. You don't do it on purpose. Maybe it would have been different if I didn't surprise you with that," Marco said, even though the surprise had been fun. "Let's try something else." The older stepped forward and kissed Ace, though this time it was soft and loving, not heated or frantic. Ace put his hands around Marco's neck, smooth hands running up and down his skin.

Marco pulled away and looked behind Ace and saw none of the poison had come out. "Looks like it only happens if it goes real rough. And it's not like we'd do that in front of everyone anyways."

Ace kissed his jaw softly, such a gentle move compared to him yanking at Marco's hair not long ago. "Are you even allowed to do this?" he asked against his skin. "You're a commander, I'm not." Marco's hands wandered up Ace's back, just barely touching the spines.

"I don't know. This has never happened with a commander," Marco replied. He couldn't hide it from Pops, he'd know immediately, and not only would it make him unfit for leadership, but he couldn't handle the guilt if he were to lie to his father. Ace huffed and pushed away.

"Should have found out before this," he said, almost in a cold voice, and walked out of the bathroom and to breakfast.

Marco felt guilt stab in his gut. He should have found out before that, so he wouldn't have dragged Ace into it. He was glad Ace seemed to return the feelings, whatever they were, but if it was not allowed, Marco had hurt Ace. he left immediately, tossing the ruined wipes in the ocean before heading to breakfast.

Ace was looking a bit sad as he ate, staring at the table. He'd only been there a little over a week and everyone was already so attached to him. "Ace, what's wrong?" Thatch whined from across the table. "It is have to do with the spines? The look kind of swollen." Marco saw it, too. The base of the spines were an inflamed red.

"I'm fine. They don't hurt, so I didn't even notice they were red," he said. "Tell me about Sabaody." Marco knew it was a good distraction, and before Pops got to the table, Marco asked him if they could speak alone. The commanders who heard watched with great interest. Whitebeard looked confused, but followed him out of the galley, even if both of them were hungry.

"Is everything alright?" Pops asked at the meeting room. Marco shrugged. But he didn't wait to explain.

"I kissed Ace. And he kissed me back," he said simply. Pops raised his brows in surprise. "Am I allowed to? To be with him? I'm a commander, he's not." The captain had a grim face on, and Marco's face fell, assuming the worst.

Pops put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "What kind of father would I be to discourage his son from loving someone else. I trust you to not abuse your power or play favorites with Ace in a way that is inappropriate. Besides, he's not in your division. He's under Namur, which makes things easier for you. You are allowed to be with him if you both wish it."

A grin stretched across Marco's face. "Thanks, Pops." Whitebeard smiled and laughed in response.

"Though I have to admit, I never expected it to be a half-human fishman who can control sea kings," Pops joked, lightening the mood drastically. "Though I would be more surprised if it was some well behaved brat who lives on an island. How are his spines? The poison?" The subject was changed quickly.

Marco sighed. "They leaked again last night and this morning. As long as it doesn't smear anywhere to be touched by someone else, I'm sure it will be fine." Pops nodded.

On their way back to the galley, Marco much happier than their trip from there, Pops said. "I did some light reading last night. There is only one species of fish with poisonous spines like Ace's. It's called the lionfish, and the poison is only deadly if it is in a puncture wound. It could be possible the poison would hurt no one unless it gets inside the body. Worth something to check out." Marco nodded, and when they arrived, he moved to sit by Ace, shoving Thatch out of the way.

"Hey, asshole! I was sitting there!" Thatch shouted, kicking and hitting him in the head. Marco shocked everyone by kissing Ace's nose and cheek. Ace smiled when Pops laughed, clearly showing he was fine with it.

Ace took a piece of toast and said, "Still shoulda asked ahead of time," and then took a bite out of it.

"I know." Thatch and Haruta were so confused and Marco laughed. He didn't understand how he could have felt Ace could become a close friend last night, and then now he cared for him in a way that was much different than a friend or brother. He didn't know if he was in love with Ace, but he didn't know what that felt like anyways. But even from their heated encounter, Marco didn't want Ace just to be a way to feel pleasure.

He was unsure about it since it happened so fast. But Ace clearly liked it, too, and showed it with the gentle kisses he'd given him earlier. Marco looked forward to the feelings to develop and blossom.


	4. Fishman Island Part 1

#### Iris Viggiano: I love making them cute. Even in the steamy scenes it's cute. lol

**Otaku_Girl2176: All in good time, the smut will arrive lol. I didn't want this one to be a slowburn. Pure romance stories that have slowburns make me so impatient.**

**chickie434: Lol Marco had a dirty dream.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: <3**

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**Here we are at the first chapter of Fishman Island! I had fun writing it. I also started posting another story, ASL and LawLu. It has fluff and action and strong characters. And a lot of drama. I've never done a fic with Law in it and Doflamingo's crew. Go check it out! Enjoy~**

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A day later, Ace was playing with sea king pups deep under Sabaody. Namur was off in the distance, but Ace knew he was watching with binoculars. He had asked to know more about sea kings, so Ace offered to just show him.

Being back in the water was wonderful. He'd missed it. He didn't hate being on land or on the ship, but the water would always be cozier. Feel more natural. The sea king mother eventually came up and took her pups from Ace. Maybe they noticed Namur was in the water. Sea kings were very protective of their young.

"Bye, bye," Ace said to the protesting babies but the mother growled, a way of showing that there was no option and they would listen to her. He swam back up to the surface where Namur was, just under the water. "Pretty neat, huh?" Namur was holding the most advanced binoculars that the ship had.

"I never knew that sea kings raised their young, I thought they laid eggs like normal fish and then left," Namur said in amazement, like he'd just discovered the world's biggest secret. He was wearing an uncharacteristic grin.

"No way, they raise the babies until they're big enough to protect themselves," Ace said, taking a deep breath of the clean and cool water. Ace swam up and popped his head out of the water, looking up at the Moby Dick, which someone was coating. The bubbles slowly forming around the ship were interesting. He dropped back down into the water and looked at the bubbled ship above him.

"You know, it's nice having another fishman on the crew. Even if you're the 'usual' type. Whatever that means." Ace curiously asked what other fishmen were like. He'd been by himself his whole life with only one other fishman, who was his mother for a small part of his life. "Unlike humans, we all look very different. Humanoid bodies, mostly. Usually four limbs and head and all, but we all look unique. Didn't skin colors, aquatic-life attributes. Such as big teeth, facial additions. I'm sure you'll be interested to see them down at Fishman Island," Namur explained.

Ace was imagining what kind of fishmen he'd see. If they were based on all types of fish and sea life, then no one must look the same. "Do any look like me?" he asked. He and Namur were both very comfortable in the water, and they both pitied humans for their inability to breathe underwater, too.

Namur shook his head. "I've never seen a fishman with your patterning, or the spines," the older fishman replied. Ace looked off to the side and saw a sea king swimming towards them. Namur grew tense immediately, and Ace stopped him from fleeing. The sea king approached both of them, and pretty much ignored Namur as it swam up to Ace, big enough to easily eat him.

"Be careful, they hate sea kings down there," it said, only to Ace.

"Don't worry, I have the Whitebeard's help on my side," he replied, and pet its head. "Can Namur touch you?" The sea king didn't make any move to go towards Namur, but it also didn't flee. Namur didn't come, so Ace swam over and dragged him easily. Namur put a shaky hand on the sea king's head before it said goodbye to Ace and swam away. It faded into the deep blue and out of sight. Namur was trembling. "They're not so bad, right?" Ace asked.

Namur then grinned, showing all of his sharp teeth. "Well, I'm sure it would not have let me touch it if you weren't here. But they aren't vicious killers I guess," the shark fishman replied, still smiling. "Everyone is gonna be amazed that I touched a damn sea king and it didn't eat me." Ace laughed, glad that Namur accepted him even if he was not a normal fishman.

They swam around the island and ship for a little while before they went back to the surface. Ace popped his head out of the water, hair flat against his head. Marco leaned over the edge. "Ace! Date night, let's go!" Marco shouted. Ace blinked twice before grinning and climbing out of the water and onto the spongy land. Namur waved goodbye to him, planning on staying in the water.

Marco kissed him and took his hand. "I thought I wasn't allowed on the island," Ace said. Marco gave him a basket with food in it.

"Well, technically, but no one will see you," Marco said. Ace got the answer when Marco seamlessly changed into phoenix form. "Trust me?" he asked, and bent forward for Ace to climb on. He trusted Marco, and climbed onto his back while the commander grabbed onto the basket with his talons and flew up. Ace was breathing rapidly as he clutched the mass of soft fire before they landed on a huge bubble.

Ace sat down and sunk into the bubble, but not all the way. Like he was on the softest sea sponge. "What is it? How are there solid bubbles?" Ace asked, lounging in it. Marco took out an apple and tossed it to Ace.

"They're made by the mangrove trees that reach down to the ocean floor to Fishman Island. It's what's going to be keeping us humans from drowning and the ship imploding due to the pressure," Marco explained. He expertly walked across the bubble, like he'd done this many times before, and he laid down next to Ace. "How was your day?" he asked, making traces with his finger across the patterns on Ace's chest.

Ace smiled at the sensation and then told him about him and Namur with the sea kings. "Wait, he actually was able to touch one?" Marco asked in shock. Ace nodded. "I never knew they had babies."

The sea king fishman said, "That's cause they keep them away from humans and fishmen. I was surprised to see them this close to the surface, to be honest. You guys all hate them so much, so why would they risk their babies being hurt?"

Marco nodded, and crawled closer to Ace until he laid against his chest, his ear over Ace's heart. "Ace, did you like me before the bathroom? The make out?" he asked quietly, cheek pressed tightly to his body. Ace's spines were not popping the bubble since they were flat on his back.

Ace hadn't really learned he felt differently for Marco until he helped clean up Ace's poison mess. "I mean, I thought we were really good friends, or at least could be, but then you kissed me and it felt right so I did it, too. I already liked you more than everyone else before the attack, since that was kind of what it was." Marco laughed, and ran his fingers along Ace's arm, where the spines were so flattened down that they made no bump when he ran his finger over it.

"Your body sure did like it. Though I didn't expect it to react like _that._ " Marco said, and chuckled when Ace glared at him. "I don't hate it. It's messy, but as long as we keep the mess to ourselves, I'd love to see you so disheveled again," he whispered, biting across Ace's chest in varying degrees of harshness.

Ace didn't like that the poison reacted like that. He wouldn't care before, but the poison could hurt his human friends, and made a mess. In the water, it would have floated away and dispersed. Now it was ruining blankets and towels. "As long as it's _your_ stuff being ruined and not mine."

"You know, when we go to Fishman Island, there are some fishmen that excrete toxins from their skin. Maybe we can find something to stop the spines from leaking based on other fishmen's attributes," Marco offered. Ace was making patterns on Marco's back through the open shirt.

Ace hummed, "That would be nice. I'm glad it doesn't come from all of my skin, though. That would suck." Marco nodded and kissed Ace's collarbone. Ace was a bit surprised by how Marco was acting. He hadn't been like this before the kiss scene in the bathroom while Ace dripped poison everywhere. He didn't comment on it, sure Marco hadn't noticed or at least not fully. And it was nice, Ace didn't want to risk ending the mood.

But he did have another pressing question. "Marco, what will the fishmen and merfolk think of this? I'm a fishman, you're a human pirate, and here we are, cuddling and kissing," he said. Marco didn't answer for a moment, making Ace worried.

He looked up and took Ace's hand, moving his thumb across the webbing between his fingers. Compared to Namur, Ace's were not nearly as thick. "They probably wouldn't like it. Most definitely wouldn't like it, but we're the Whitebeard pirates. Our crew's name protects their island, they can't exactly complain much," Marco replied. Ace nodded and Marco continued to play with Ace's fingers. He took the hand to his face and kissed each of Ace's knuckles.

"Marco? Why are you like this all of the sudden?" Ace asked curiously. Marco didn't even think before he answered, probably having already thought of this before Ace was able to ask.

"Kissing you opened the floodgate, and everything is rushing out. Feelings I didn't sense before. It happened so fast, it might have given me whiplash if I wasn't immune to injuries," Marco replied. "I really like you, Ace. This isn't just me thinking you're attractive and want to bone or something."

Ace said, "Well, I sure hope not," with a light voice. Marco moved up and kissed Ace with a smile. Marco threaded his fingers into Ace's hair, and Ace thought the feeling was nice. Kissing was nice, being touched so gently and carefully was nice. Ace had never had physical affection like this, so it felt good and new. All around _nice._ Marco opened his lips softly, and Ace did his best not to leak poison. When the older pulled away, there were a few drips of the substance, but nothing too bad.

The sun was soon setting, and the apple from the basket were gone. "Time to descend into the deep," Marco said, giving Ace's perky nose and quick kiss. He stood up on the bubble, helping Ace up since he had much more trouble balancing on it. He picked up the basket and Marco flew them back to the ship. They flew around the island once, giving Ace a brief look at what he'd missed out on. They landed back on the ship, and after a headcount they knew everyone was back.

Ace watched and felt as the bubble expanded and formed over them. Then the ship began to sink. "Hey, Ace, keep your sea king buddies from attacking us," Rayuko called. Ace nodded and said he would.

The half-human half-fishman walked over to where Namur was telling them about the encounters with the sea kings. Thatch and Haruta were both jealous they couldn't do it, too. "I thought everyone hated and were scared of the sea kings?" Ace asked in slight confusion. Why would they want to get close?

As they answered, Ace watched the ship be swallowed by the sea and sink down slowly. He was standing by the side, but there were no sea kings yet. Just sunlight that was slowly dimming.

"I want to see baby ones!" Thatch complained. "Baby sea kings sound so cute!" Haurta nodded, and Whitebeard laughed at the conversation.

"Never thought anyone would put 'cute' and 'sea king' in the same sentence," he said in good humor. Some of the deck laughed, and Ace walked to the railing. It wasn't much different for him, since he lived in the water for his whole life, but the rest of the pirates must be a bit restless. He pressed his hand to the bubble, feeling the thickness of the strong substance.

Marco came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Ace's waist loosely. "You excited to meet other fishmen?" he asked in Ace's ear. The spines were flat to his back and not leaking, so nothing happened with having Marco pressed flush to his back. Ace nodded.

"Worried they'll get hostile at me for stuff. Being half-human, sea king fishman, romantic with a human. I don't want to cause trouble for anyone," he said, and Marco kissed behind his ear.

"Don't worry. Everything will be okay, even if there are bumps in the road. Maybe you can meet the princess. She can understand sea kings as well, though you are in control more," Marco replied. "And Pops can talk to king Neptune and see if he has any answers. We're all very curious. Is that alright with you?" Marco asked. Ace nodded.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm curious, too," the fishman replied. They watched as the ship sunk lower and lower, deeper and deeper, into the dark. It didn't take long for sea kings to appear, though there were also many deep water fish that were huge, which Ace could not talk to. He stood on the deck where any sea kings could see him. Multiple approached, curious, but they left them alone when they saw or sensed Ace.

The teen could tell the pirates were trusting him more to protect them against sea kings, and it made him happy. He wouldn't let anyone get hurt by sea kings. He had always been friends with them, had never gotten into a fight or altercation. They liked him and he liked them. It was a win-win. No one got hurt. It was convenient and safe.

When they got very deep, completely dark now but for the lights on the ship, Whitebeard asked Ace to come to his throne. Ace did, and stood in front of the huge human, wondering what he was going to say.

"Ace, I want you to stay with one of us at all times. This is your first outing, and you don't have the mark yet, so many might not believe you are one of us now. Plus, there is the fact that you are clearly part human, and we don't know how they will react. Stay with Marco or Namur the whole time. I want you to be safe. We know you are difficult to injure, but we don't want you to have to fight. We can't risk any sea kings getting involved and hurting the island," the captain explained. Ace nodded.

"I won't wander off, Pops," Ace said, not even noticing the word he'd used. Whitebeard smiled at it, but didn't mention it. Marco walked over and kissed Ace's forehead. Ace really liked the physical affection. It made him warm inside. And he was glad the gentle touching and kissing so far had not made the poison leak out. That was frustrating. Maybe time would get him used to it. The great thing was that Marco was immune. That was the best he could ask for at the moment.

"Get a room!" Thatch called, and Marco turned to glare at him. Ace got a mischievous look on and turned Marco's face to his and kissed him, just to spite Thatch. Pops chuckled and Thatch made exaggerated retching noises.

When they reached the sea floor, hours after starting the descent and many curious sea kings, the ship worked to steer up to the place they could pass through. The captain had called ahead of time, so they were expecting them and ready to let the ship pass through the front entrance. Ace stood at the railing, watching the bubble swallow them, passing through the ship and the pirates' bodies.

Fishman Island was in a huge bubble, with sunlight making it to the bottom of the ocean floor. Ace was amazed, even though he'd been told about it before by Namur. Marco stood next to him, and wrapped one arm around his waist, since he was taller than Ace. "Remember to stay with me," Marco said and Ace nodded.

He was so excited to see different fishmen and merfolk. The ship made it into the bubble, and sailed to a port that had no other ships docked at it. Ace looked over the side of the ship to see all of the vibrant and colorful corals, all of the sea shells. He wondered if he could stay with Namur for a bit so he could go swimming.

They met workers and guards at the port, who all looked happy to see them. Ace was feeling a bit nervous, and Marco patted his head, making Ace remember that the people here wouldn't approve of them being romantic partners. "Don't worry, we can touch in private," Marco assured him.

"Okay," Ace replied. When they were let off, the pirates all got off the ship, trusting nothing to happen to the Moby Dick. Ace looked around in awe at all of the colors. The Calm Belt had had reefs, but not like the ones he was seeing then. He bent down and picked up a bright shell. A little crab was inside and he hadn't realized, so he put it down and it crawled away and into the water.

"Whitebeard, it is good to see you!" a merman said, suddenly there when Ace didn't notice. He looked very different from what Ace had expected a merman to look like. He looked a bit like a shark.

"Prince Fukaboshi, it is good to see you as well. How is the kingdom doing?" Whitebeard went off with the prince, and Ace heard them say they were going to the palace. Ace wanted to see it, and looked at the fish longingly.

"We'll get to go there tonight for a banquet, don't worry," Marco said. Ace was itching to hold his hand, and so was Marco as his fingers were twitching until he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Now, let's go explore," he added, and the two walked off. Ace looked at every fishman with interest, and the merfolk, as well. All of the female mermaids looked how he'd imagined them. They didn't wear much on top. Ace was glad he was not a merman, walking would be much more difficult.

Ace didn't notice the mermaids whispering about him with pink cheeks. "Looks like you're popular," Marco noted. Ace looked around to see the mermaids looking at him.

"Excuse me, do you want to come swimming with us?" a sweet voice asked. Ace said "no thanks" and continued his walk. Marco laughed.

"Most men would take that offer up immediately," he commented. Ace shrugged.

"I think it's clear by now that I don't find females attractive," he said, and Marco's cheeks turned a bit pink. He said he supposed that was true. They walked around, Ace doing his best not to stare at each fishman that he passed. However, many were staring at him. He grew uncomfortable at it, but none had hostile looks on.

Marco said, "Don't worry. They're probably curious about your markings." Ace nodded, though it didn't make him feel any better. When they were walking out of the city area and more into the coral parts, they came across some guards. They wore strange outfits, and some were quite big. Marco recognized one of them, and said, "Jinbei! It's nice to see you." Ace looked forward to Jinbei, a blue fishman who was quite large. Ace wondered what kind of fishman he was.

"Marco, it is good to see you as well," he said politely, and then turned to look at Ace. His eyebrows furrowed just slightly. "This a new crew member?" he asked in a curious voice, though it still sounded grumpy. Ace assumed that was just how his voice was.

Marco nodded. "This is Ace," he said, and Ace held his hand out to shake. Jinbei shook it, and looked down at the modest webbing of Ace's fingers, while Jinbei's were very webbed.

"Nice to meet you," Ace said, voice a bit nervous.

Jinbei returned the sentiment. "Do you mind if I ask what kind of fishman you are?" he asked then. Marco said it for him. "An orca," he said simply with a smile. Ace nodded in agreement, probably making it look even more suspicious. Then the fishman saw the spines flat on Ace's back.

"Those spines look more like a lionfish," he said, sounding completely suspicious.

"I'm a mix," Ace said, and Marco told jinbei, "Well, we're going on a tour of Fishman Island. See you later, Jinbei."

The fishman, who was eyeing Ace with open suspicion, wished them a good day. Ace turned around and asked, "Why was he so pushy? He doesn't know me."

Marco replied, "He's close to our crew, and he's curious. Unfortunately for us, he spots lies easily. He knows we were lying, but he won't ask us outright. He may ask Pops, but I doubt Pops would tell anyone other than possibly Neptune. And since you aren't a citizen of this island, he cannot do anything to you. Plus, your part of our crew. He would never mess with one of our own." Ace nodded, and Marco patted Ace's head, the only thing he could do that wouldn't look suspicious.

After looking around some more, Ace looked down at the water longingly, wanting to explore it. "Do you want to go find Namur so he could accompany you in the water parts?" Ace nodded. "Alright, let's go find him."

It took awhile to find him, but they did at a bar. "Namur, Ace wants to explore the underwater parts of the island. Will you go with him?" Namur chugged the rest of his drink, put a handful of bills on the bar counter, and then left with Ace.

They headed back to the colorful area, and both jumped in, swimming around and letting Ace look at everything. "It's so different from the Calm Belt. There were coral reefs there, but not like this. It's beautiful," Ace said, looking at every small detail. They swam near the homes in the coral. Ace wished to go inside, but they didn't, just observed from the outside.

"Yeah, it is pretty. Want to go deeper?" Namur asked. Ace nodded, and they swam deeper, seeing mermaids together of all sizes. Not too large, but some were very small. They didn't talk to them, but Namur and he both noticed they were staring at him. Namur laughed, and Ace's cheeks tinted pink.

Once they were done exploring that area, they surfaced in the mermaid cove. Namur said it was the closest way to surface, but when they got there and had the mermaids' attention, they swarmed Ace. He was uncomfortable. "Do you want to stay with us and swim? It's a nice area."

"Uh, no thanks, I have to be on my way," he said, and swam back a little, only to be sucked into a water tube he hadn't seen. "Namur!" he shouted, panicking as it took him far from the other fishman. He was able to struggle out of it, and fell onto hard coral ground in a more deserted area. "Shit!" he shouted, and put his hand on his face. He was going to be in so much trouble, even if it was an accident. He looked up, and was going to follow the tube back to mermaid cove.

He stomped his way across the deserted area. No one was around. He was near the side of the bubble, the land pressed to the side. He didn't notice he'd walked past a bunch of fishmen pirates. He didn't care much, just wanting to get back to the crew and not worry them. But, it had been a total accident.

"Hey, boy," someone called. He looked up, and saw five fishmen of all shapes. He stared for a bit, interested in how they looked.

"Yeah?" Ace asked warily, not knowing what to expect.

"What are you doing here? This is our turf," he said, a yellow fishman with what looked like a beak on his face.

Ace replied, "I got trapped in the road thing," and pointed up at the arc. "I'm heading back to my crew right now. I didn't mean to enter your area. I apologize." He knew he shouldn't antagonize these guys. They didn't seem like especially nice people. He turned and walked away quickly.

"You a pirate? What crew?" he asked. Ace replied that he was a Whitebeard. They looked surprised and wary, before the main guy asked for proof. "Where's your tattoo?" _Shit._

Ace told the truth, "I'm new and don't have one yet. I should really be going." He knew that the gun the man had would not hurt Ace, but he still didn't want to get into an altercation if he could avoid it.

"Huh, that's a nice excuse. Join us and I might not kill you. My name is Hammond." He seemed incredibly cocky, and Ace wanted nothing to do with it anymore.

"No. I'm a Whitebeard. If you kill me, you will all die painful deaths," he said in a hard voice, heart beating quickly. He wasn't afraid, but didn't know what to expect to happen. Hammond and the other four glared at him. It was bad, sometimes, when he was nervous or panicked, it attracted sea kings without him even calling them. It didn't happen often, but he knew he couldn't let a sea king approach the island.

He started running before a net was shot at him. He dodged it, and noticed shadows in the water approaching the bubble. The asshole fishmen looked at it as it approached and screamed when it stared at them with an unsettling stare.

Ace hid behind a coral and waved his hands to get it's attention. He made a cross with his arms, shaking his head. The sea king said, "Are you in trouble?" No one else could hear it, of course. Ace shook his head, but the sea king had attracted attention, and fishmen and merfolk were screaming. Ace shooed it away.

But the other pirates saw what he was doing, how he was communicating with the sea king. It started to move away. "He's talking to the sea king! Get him!" Hammond shouted. Ace sprinted harder than he ever had before, running and jumping over coral and little hills.

He made it to a more populous area of the island, searching for anyone on his crew. He found Thatch, and made a bee-line to him. "Ace? What's wrong?" Ace was panting, hands on his knees and bent over. "Are you okay?"

Ace took a deep breath and stood up. "I met some not so nice fishmen. They tried attacking me." Then, in a quieter voice, "They saw me talking to a concerned sea king." Thatch looked concerned. "They didn't believe I was a Whitebeard because I didn't have the tattoo. They said they were gonna kill me. Man, that was stressful." Thatch pat him on the shoulder.

"Just stay with one of the commanders. Why were you on your own? I thought you were being accompanied by someone." Ace scowled and pointed at the bubble road.

"That stupid thing sucked me up into it when I didn't mean to," he grumbled. Thatch started laughing, and Ace smacked his arm. "It's not funny. Should we go somewhere? I don't want those guys to spread it around." Thatch nodded and bought the food he was looking at, and they hurried away.

But, the fishmen pirates clearly still didn't believe Ace was a Whiteebard as they approached from behind. "You, you're going to come with us or we'll kill you for real, whether or not your sea king buddies appear."

Thatch turned around, and gave the asshole fishmen a dark look. "You dare threaten one of my crewmembers in the presence of a commander?" he asked in the coldest voice that Ace had never expected to hear from the usually bubbly Thatch. He pulled up his sleeve, showing the Whitebeard mark. The fishmen's eyes widened. Ace had the urge to say he told them so. "Would you like to continue to threaten him and have a nice talk with our captain, or forget what you saw and leave him alone?"

The fishmen backed away, sending a murderous look at Ace before leaving. "Thanks, Thatch." The chef grinned at him. "Anything for my little brother," and he ruffled Ace's hair like Marco did. Then he accidentally touched Ace's arm, where some poison had leaked.

He hissed at the burning pain, and Ace looked horrified. They waited in shocked silence for something to happen for a good five minutes. Thatch had wiped it off, and all that was left was a red mark, like he'd gotten a light burn. "Looks like it's not so dangerous. I don't feel anything but a slight sting. Maybe it only harms someone if it punctures them?"

Ace sighed with a smile. "I was so worried someone would touch it and die."

"Don't worry so much," Thatch said. "Though it isn't exactly a nice feeling. Phew!" he said animatedly. Thatch turned when they were walking away from the plaza, knowing someone was following them that Ace couldn't. "There's someone following us. Let's regroup with the other commanders," he said. Ace frowned, though he hadn't meant for everything to happen.

"Alright," Ace said, and they walked to the more populated areas. Ace looked up at just the right moment to see Marco flying above them. "Marco! Marco, down here!" he shouted waving his arms. Marco flew down and landed, hugging Ace. He couldn't stop himself.

He asked, in a slightly angry tone, "Where did you go?" Ace frowned.

He pointed to the bubble road in the distance, arcing over everything. "A bunch of mermaids cornered me and I got sucked into that thing! It dropped me off in front of a bunch of fishmen pirates. They were so rude and threatening, didn't believe I was a Whitebeard. They saw me talking to a sea king that approached the bubble," he explained. Marco scowled. "I really didn't mean for that to happen, I swear." He worried that Marco was still mad at him.

"I believe you, I'm not mad," he said, and reached to touch Ace's face before he stopped himself and put it back down. They were walking when some guards showed up. Ace worried they were after him, but that wasn't the case. A goldfish mermaid approached them. "Queen Otohime," Marco said, and he and Thatch bowed respectfully. Ace did as well, though a few seconds late.

She looked straight at Ace. "I'd like to take you three to the palace," she said calmly after greeting Marco by name. Ace looked nervous, and asked if he was in trouble. "Not by me. Now, let us go before anything unfortunate happens," she said politely. "And you may show affection in my presence, there is no need to hide it."

Marco quickly took Ace's hand and intertwined their fingers. The four walked back to the guards, and one of them was Jinbei, who looked at Ace suspiciously again. If he'd seen the sea king, he had to know by now that Ace was not normal, and he didn't make eye contact. Ace hoped nothing bad would come of this.


	5. Fishman Island Part 2

#### Iris Viggiano: <3 <3 <3

#### iiRabbiit: Thank you! I do my best to make them adorable together.

#### Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thank you. * takes a dramatic bow *

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**Part 2 of Fishman Island. Some more stuff happens, and it involves sea kings eating fishmen, so beware. I don't think anyone will be too upset about it, though. Enjoy~**

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Marco noticed the looks of some of the guards. A shark fishman especially, and Marco did not like the look his partner was being given. "Is there something on his face?" he asked coldly. The guard looked away quickly, and Ace looked up at Marco nervously. He was scared, not knowing what was going to happen. He'd never lived anywhere with a government or kingdom. He truly was in the dark about everything that was going to and already was happening.

They went to a large eel with a carriage on it. It had a bubble around its middle to float. The three pirates, Otohime and a couple guards got on. They were heading to the palace, and Ace looked down to see a large crowd of fishmen, recognizing Hammond. Ace pointed to them to alert Marco.

He growled and scowled at them. There went Ace's tour. And they were still going to be there for multiple days. Poor Ace, though it had been an accident. Well, those people would be idiots to try anything. Both because they'd incur the Whitebeards' wrath and Ace could have them eaten by sea kings in a moment.

Ace looked at his knees with a look of shame. Marco kissed his head. "Not your fault, Ace. Nothing will happen. It'll be fine," he assured him.

But Ace was moping. "It's my first time here and it's already ruined," he said with an adorable pout. Marco wanted to kiss those plump lips, but it would be inappropriate at the moment. Otohime watched Ace curiously, while Thatch was sitting quietly, eating the food he'd bought.

"There are still many safe places you may be able to visit," Otohime said. "And with Marco here, no one will bother you again." Ace looked up at her and nodded, though it didn't seem like he was believing her. "Those pirates are in a base outside of the bubble, so they won't be able to approach you easily," she added.

"Okay," Ace said, and watched as they got higher and higher until they were heading to the second, much smaller bubble. Marco has his arm over Ace's shoulder. "Oh, Marco, good news. Thatch got some of the poison on him and it didn't hurt him. Just a small burn." He sounded happy about this.

Marco smiled, remembering Pops saying it might only be dangerous if it was accompanied by a puncture. "That's great. Now you have a little less to worry about," he said. It was still not good for anyone to touch, but it would not kill them if they did. Thatch held up his arm to show a small red mark. It wasn't too bad looking. That was a great relief. Now Marco could make Ace leak all over the place and it wouldn't kill anyone. It made him want to kiss him fiercely, pin him against the wall or bed, kiss him everywhere, ruining the sheets...He was messed up, wasn't he?

They arrived at the palace and got off of the carriage, walking behind Otohime. Thatch and Marco had been there many times, so it was nothing new. They needed bubbles to walk around, while Ace was fine in the water. He looked around in awe, seeming distracted by the palace from his sadness and fear.

Otohime led them inside and to the throne room, where Pops was sitting on a chair across from King Neptune. They were both drinking sake, talking. There were no guards inside, which was not strange, since they trusted Whitebeard completely. Marco expected they would stay there, but Otohime led Ace and Marco to another room, which Thatch opted to stay with Pops.

They entered a small room, though it had comfortable couches. Ace and Marco sat down on one while Otohime took the chair across from them. The room was completely in air, so Marco didn't need a bubble.

"So, Ace, are you a sea king fishman? I will not spread this to anyone," Otohime said. Ace looked uncomfortable, but nodded. "Half-human as well? I can tell from your traits." Ace nodded again. "Where did you come from?"

"The Calm Belt. I helped the Whitebeards get out of it and then joined the crew. I'm sorry the sea king came so close," he said sincerely. Marco was proud of how respectful he was despite never really being around any authority figure before the pirates.

Otohime waved her hand. "It did no harm. I am not worried," she said simply. "How do you react to the sea kings? I am very curious, since my daughter can communicate with sea kings, but cannot control it one bit."

Ace then explained his relationship with sea kings. How they trust him and he trusts them, talks to them, they let him play with their babies. How he lived with them exclusively his whole life. Otohime was amazed, eyes wide with fascination. Marco had met and talked to her many times over the years, but had never seen her this excited.

"That is amazing. I've ever heard about or seen any sea king babies. Can you tell them to attack others?" she asked. Marco frowned, since he didn't know. Marco had never seen Ace sic any sea kings on anyone.

Ace said, "I've never had any reason to, but I assume they would do so if I asked. That sea king that came to check on me was ready to attack those pirates." Otohime apologized for her citizens' actions. They were mostly not on the island, and stayed outside of it at the sea floor. Marco was glad they were not on the island regularly.

Otothime offered to have guards stationed around him if it made him feel safer. "Why? Why are you doing this?" Ace asked, confused. Marco wondered as well. Ace was not even a commander. He was a regular pirate.

"Because there is no one else like you, and it is my citizens that harassed you. I won't let them get away with it again. Though now that they know you are a Whitebeard, they should think twice. We will tell Whitebeard-san about this. He is chatting with my husband at the moment. Would you like to meet my daughter? The only other person who can communicate with the sea kings?"

Marco was shocked that she was offering a near stranger to be with her daughter, though Shirahoshi was older now. Only a few years younger than Ace. He looked to Marco, who gave him an encouraging smile. Ace accepted the offer.

After Otothime led him to the princess's room, Marco left to go talk to Pops. He interrupted the conversation he was having with Neptune, which was about sake flavors, so nothing too important. "Pops, we have a problem involving Ace." Whitebeard's expression turned to serious in a second. Marco told him about what had happened, and Neptune was pissed.

"They dare threaten a Whitebeard?!" he raved. After all, the Whitebeards helped the island greatly, and to have one of the fishmen attack one of them was ridiculous and dangerous. What if the yonko crew left them? They wouldn't, but it was a valid concern.

"Yeah, they didn't believe he was one since he didn't have the mark. I'm concerned Ace will get separated again since it was an accident the first time," Marco said in a tight voice.

Pops told him to stay with Ace at all times now, which Marco was planning on doing anyway. Neptune offered to have his own guards stay with them as well for added security. "They won't approve of Ace. We are a couple now, and I want Ace to be able to touch me without worrying about the public reaction. He's nervous. He's never been in any situation like this before."

Neptune clearly had been told about Ace's past and situation. "He is in more danger now that some of the pirates know. They've been wanting Shirahoshi for a long time, but she's so heavily guarded. Ace is in danger. Perhaps your crew should leave earlier than planned," the king said. Whitebeard grew angry.

"We will not flee from some small time pirates who threaten my son. If they come anywhere near Ace again, I give my sons permission to kill them. If you protest, I do not care. The Whitebeard pirates don't take lightly to a family member being threatened," Whitebeard said in a dark voice. Marco rarely heard him speak like this around one of the leaders of a protected island.

Neptune looked like he didn't agree, but nodded. There was no point in arguing with the yonko about something so serious. "At the moment, he's visiting with princess Shirahoshi. Queen Otohime offered."

"We should alert the other commanders," Whitebeard said, and took out the universal den den that was shared between the captain and all 15 commanders.

-x-

Ace was shocked when he saw how big the mermaid princess was. "Shirahoshi, this is Ace. I'd like you two to talk for a bit. I'm sure you have things to share." The princess was surprised to see Ace there, but he walked in. The door was closed, with guards in front of the entrance. The two were quiet for a bit, not really knowing what to talk about.

"Nice to meet you, Ace. What would you like to talk about?" Ace put his hand behind his head.

"Well, I'm assuming it's that we can both talk to sea kings." Shirahoshi had a shocked expression before she fell on her stomach on the massive bed and looked at him with bright interest.

"You can talk to them as well? Do they come to help you?" she asked excitedly. Ace sat cross legged on her massive pillow. It was very comfortable. He nodded, and explained his relationship with them.

"I've lived with them in the Calm Belt my whole life. They kept me company, and I still visit with him while on Whitebeard's crew. I was told you are unable to control it? And can only summon them by accident?" The princess nodded.

Ace stood up, and said, "I have an idea! I can help you. I can call some over near the bubble and I can try to teach you how to talk to them." Shirahoshi sat up and was all for that idea. "Are you allowed to do that?" Ace asked.

The mermaid princess said, "I can have a lot of guards come with us!" Ace would bring Marco, too. The two got off the bed and swam out of the room and down the hall. Ace sat on Sharhoshi's shoulder so they would be at the same speed. She seemed kind of weak, but also very kind. Ace liked her.

They went to the throne room, where Marco and the two leaders were. "Marco, will you accompany us to the bubble? I want to teach Shirahoshi how to talk to sea kings better." Neptune looked hesitant, but caved with Sharahoshi's bright eyes.

"Sure, I'll come, but you have to be careful. And we have to stay in the air." Ace nodded, and Shirahoshi put a huge bubble around her so she could float in the air. Ace sat on her shoulder again and Marco flew beside them. Palace guards were both in the water and floating on their own bubbles.

Neptune had told them not to ask questions or listen to the conversations Ace was having with his friend and Shirahoshi. When they reached the side of the bubble, the air pocket at the top. Ace called out for any sea kings with the sound he made to attract them. A passing by one came and waited right outside the double bubble, curious as to what Ace wanted. They never seemed shocked to see him, like they knew he was one of them and didn't think it weird.

"What do you need?" the sea king asked. Ace turned to Shirahoshi, and asked if she heard it.

"Yes!" she said.

"Can you talk to the princess? She can speak to you as well, but has some trouble controlling it," Ace explained. The sea king turned to the princess, and she grew nervous about being so close, only separated from it with the bubbles.

"Mermaid princess? Are you the reborn Poseidon?" it asked. Shirahoshi nodded, and said her name was not poseidon. She had a small conversation with the sea king, before it got bored and drifted away. Ae turned to the princess to look at her face, and helped her learn to call them. Taught her how to make the noise.

Apparently it was very hard to recreate, since Marco couldn't do it either. Ace assumed it was something about his body that made him able to create the specific sound. "How did you call them before?"

"I screamed. But I was really upset. I don't know how to recreate it," Shirahoshi explained. Ace "hmm"ed.

Ace asked what had upset her so much. "Mother was attacked. Very hurt."

"So there's no way we could recreate the sound? I mean, we don't want to hurt anyone for this. You can talk to them, but not call them out. Maybe when you get older you can do it. You could keep practicing the sound I taught you. I was able to do it since I was little, but my body is a lot different than yours," he explained helpfully.

The princess was sad she was unable to replicate the sound, but they were distracted when a herd of strange looking sea kings approached the bubble near where the three were. Marco narrowed his eyes. Ace recognized the fishmen riding them from before. Hammond was there. Ace couldn't believe they were riding the sea kings with harnesses. How disrespectful!

He grew angry at their mistreatment of the creatures. "What are you doing on those sea kings?! You don't have the right to harness them like that!" Ace roared, very angry. The sea kings looked at him strangely. Like they were not expecting that.

Marco asked, "If you attempt to harm Ace, the Whitebeard pirates will end you. Get away from here now," he commanders, body flaming up in anger and protectiveness over Ace.

"You Whitebeard's can't do shit once he is in the water," Hammond said. Ace wasn't paying attention to the fishmen, instead looking at the sea kings.

"How could they do this to you? You don't need to follow their orders, you are sea kings! The most powerful creatures in the world! Do you really want to bend to the will of people who strap a harness on you like this?" he asked, sad for their replies.

"We have no choice. They will kill us if we don't comply," the one with a long neck and brown spots on. They were like no sea kings Ace had ever come across before. Ace asked for Shirahoshi to extend her arm, and he walked closer to them.

Ace put his hand on the bubble wall. "There is no force greater in the sea than sea kings who band together. Do you enjoy this treatment? Then don't let them use you as slaves. You bend to no one unless you want to."

The sea kings looked at one another. Then, they attacked the fishmen riding them, tearing them to shreds and leaving bloody water. Shirahoshi closed her eyes at the sight, and Marco was shocked. That Ace had just convinced sea kings he'd only met a moment ago into killing their masters.

They pulled each others' harnesses off. "Now you're free. Go enjoy your life," Ace said brightly. "And don't let anyone force you into submission again. You belong to nothing and no one." They grinned at him, thanking him and swimming away, clearly happy.

The guard watching were all shocked as well. Shiroahoshi peeked her eyes open. Ace smiled down at her. "I'm sorry for making you see that. I had to stick up for them," he explained. Marco flew in front of Ace, and looked at him in awe.

"Ace, you are amazing. So kind and caring," he said, wonder and clearly love in his eyes. Ace was surprised how fast everything was going for them, but he smiled back and kissed him lightly. Shirahoshi giggled, and Marco and Ace both blushed.

"Well I think that's enough interaction with sea kings for now," Ace said, turning back to Shirahoshi. "Why don't we go back now?" The guards and giant princess swam back to the palace, Marco needing a bubble once they went back in the water.

Many of the pirates were there already, ready for the banquet. Ace was so happy he was able to free those miserable sea kings. Sure, he'd used them for transportation, but he asked first and never put harnesses on them. He was disgusted by it.

When they reached the banquet hall, the guards flocked to the king to tell him what had happened. Neptune was shocked, and looked at Ace with new eyes. Almost respect and fear at the same time.

However, when Marco told Pops, the man broke into laughter, loud and proud. "That's my son! Never expected someone on my crew to defeat enemies in such a way," he said, and the pirates lifted their mugs to drink to his success.

"I didn't ask for them to kill them, but they wanted to be free. It's sickening to see people treat sea kings like that," Ace said, sitting at the table and shoveling food onto his plate and a mug of beer thrust into his hand. The queen seemed to disapprove greatly. Her opinion of him had clearly dwindled. After all, he'd told her he hadn't sicked any sea kings onto anyone. But he didn't tell them to do that.

He honestly didn't care about Otohime's opinion if he could free captive creatures. He hated that everyone hated them and thought they were mindless killing machines. Sea kings were amazing creatures and deserved respect, not hate. Respect meant to leave them alone and not do anything to antagonize them.

That night, they spent the night in the palace. Their ship was safe in a locked bubble only used for the Whitebeard's or any Celestial Dragons that visit (which was _incredibly_ rare). Ace and Marco spent the night in the same bed, which felt like sleeping on air. He had a towel under him in case the spines leaked.

Marco was spooning him, and it felt right. Ace went to sleep comfortable and feeling safe. When they woke up, Ace's spines had not leaked at all. Probably since he'd been in the water so much the day before. "That was nice. You'll be sleeping in my room from now on," Marco said.

"Looks like I get the nice bed without having to be a commander," Ace said with a haughty voice, and it made Marco chuckle. He kissed him into the bed, still on the towel, and pinned him down. It was lucky the towel was there because some poison came out of Ace's legs. Marco still thought it was funny. Ace didn't much, but the kissing was exciting and made his heart pound.

When they left the palace that day, Ace had Jozu, Marco, Vista and Namur with him for protection. Even some of the palace guards and Neptune's army went with him, too. After all, he's basically been responsible for those pirates deaths. None of the Whitebeards had a problem with it, trusting Ace. after all, it wasn't like they captured and enslaved sea kings.

Ace didn't think about it, but he'd chosen sea kings over his fellow fishmen. Though they didn't give him any reason to want to favor them. But he was part sea king, of course he'd care for them. He'd only just met another fishman a couple weeks ago. It was natural who he'd side with.

They walked around town a bit, and went to the clothing shop. Ace had fun goofing off, trying on ridiculous clothes to entertain Marco. Some sunglasses, a feathery boa, and a sunhat. "Do I look wonderful or not?" he asked, pursing his lips.

Vista laughed and Jozu said, "Not. Definitely not."

"You can't say I'm not attractive in this getup when your fruit is called 'sparkle sparkle'," he said, though in a joking voice. The other commanders busted up laughing, earning more than a few glares from Jozu. Ace went back to put the things away, having a blast.

After that, they went with Ace to look for the prettiest seashells. He enjoyed that day much more than the previous. The palace guards and Neptune's army had left eventually when it became clear the commanders were more than enough protection for Ace.

They were approached by the first enemy around lunch time, while they were eating at a restaurant outside. Marco and the other commanders noticed a presence approaching. Ace didn't notice, eating happily. Jozu covered his arm in diamond, and smashed into the suspicious presence, flinging away a purple fishman, breaking his entire face. He moaned in pain, and the commanders ignored him, going back to eating. That's all they had to do, protect Ace.

After that, no more fishmen approached them for a long time. It was when they went to the water area, and Ace was not allowed to go far. He argued he needed to be in the water to keep his spines from leaking out poison. So, their compromise was going in shallow craters full of water. Ace was fine with that, even if he really wanted to swim around. But he knew they wouldn't let him, since two of the main protectors would be unable to fight in the water.

Ace pouted about it. Jinbei found them sparring in an empty space of coral. They couldn't go all out on the ship, and Ace finally got to show his strength, fighting Jozu and Marco at the same time. He was stronger with his kicks than punches, and was graceful with dodging. He was punched in the gut by Jozu, which threw him back a ways, right into Jinbei, who caught him. Since Ace's skin was as thick as a sea king, blunt force attacks did not injure him, and it was too thick for any weapons that were not incredibly sharp. Vista was a good swordsman, and was able to slice a small, shallow cut into his chest.

"Is this really the best thing to be doing?" Jinbei asked when he arrived. "Aren't pirates after you right now?"

Ace walked back to Marco. "We're fine. There's no need to worry," the phoenix said. The other three commanders nodded in agreement. They were easily able to protect Ace.

"I know about the sea king incident. You've angered the fishman pirates greatly. Our men caught them plotting to raid your ship. Of course they couldn't get through the bubble lock, so your ship is not in any danger. But they are angry," he repeated.

Ace crossed his arms. "It wasn't right that they enslaved those sea kings."

"So you chose to help sea kings over fishmen?" Jinbei asked, though he sounded more curious than offended.

"Of course, I have no past relationship with fishmen, I've lived with sea kings. I will side with them over anyone who wishes to enslave them." Jinbei raised his eyebrows and looked at the human pirates.

"We've stopped eating sea king meat since Ace joined. There are plenty of other massive creatures to eat," Marco explained. "It isn't a big loss, really. We rarely ate them anyways. Their skin is too tough and Thatch doesn't like cooking them." The other three nodded. Ace was grateful they respected him like that. Just like they didn't go after black tipped reef sharks, which was what Namur was. It was out of respect for both of them.

"The citizens have not heard about the sea king incident, and the Neptune army are not allowed to speak of it, but it might leak and could get Ace in trouble. But, they did threaten to kill Ace, so it is self-defense. That is what will keep your name safe. Please try not to kill any others unless necessary," the whale shark fishman said.

Marco replied, "We will not kill them unless they harm Ace. but I can't promise they won't be critically injured. They should know not to go after a Whitebeard. It is their own stupidity. Besides, it isn't like this will make you lose our protection. Killing dangers to our crew is much better to this island than losing our protection completely.

"We have never killed fishman here in the twenty six years we've claimed this island because there has never been any stupid enough to anger and antagonize us. Instead of getting on our cases, maybe stop them before they hurt one of your own," Marco finished.

Jinbei put his hands up. "I have meant no disrespect, I am just trying to understand. If Ace wishes to go swimming, I can be there to accompany him with commander Namur." Ace's eyes brightened and he agreed.

Marco looked uneasy about it, but Ace just kissed him quickly. "I'll be fine, don't worry," he said, and followed Namur and Jinbei into the water, diving in and relaxing, floating in the water on his back and looking at the surface from below.

Some mermaids were around, and once again asked Ace if he wanted to spend time with them. Finally, he told them the truth. "I'm sorry, I'm taken and not interested in women," he said. The girls pouted, like they'd lost something special, and moped away. "I thought merfolk and fishmen hated humans."

Namur replied, "Well, you are obviously part fishman. So some don't care much." Jinbei didn't talk with them, just kept his eyes open. Ace swam in circles, enjoying the warm water. It felt so soothing on his skin, and he pitied Marco for being unable to do this.

"This island really is amazing. How does the sun reach here? It's crazy. And how does the bubble hold up something so heavy? I feel like they should pop under the pressure," Ace commented, swimming to the side of the bubble they were near and poking it with his finger. It was resistant, but not like it was made of something solid like glass.

He turned back around to swim the short distance back when Jinbei and Namur both shouted his name. Someone had shot through the bubble and grabbed Ace's leg before dragging him down. He didn't recognize the fishman, but he was clearly going to hurt Ace, so he stomped down on his face. He swam up, and Jinbei was there.

"Hody?! What are you doing?" he asked in disbelief. And then Ace knew who it was. It was the guy who was in the army and kept looking at him suspiciously when he was with the queen.

"I can't believe you would help someone who recklessly throws sea kings around and kills his own kind." Hody shot forward to bite him, but Ace kicked him away. Hody looked shocked and angry, and Ace asked for them not to interfere. Wanting to fight someone in the water, having never done that before.

Jinbei hesitated, but did as Ace wished, while Namur looked uncertain and nervous. Hody was clearly a shark, a great white one. Ace wasn't worried. Sea kings ate sharks for breakfast. While he was fast, Ace was able to beat him back every time.

Once he slipped through Ace's defense, he opened his mouth and bit down on Ace's arm. It didn't pierce it. The fishman's expression was gold. Ace kicked him in the mouth hard enough to draw blood. "You might be a great white shark, but I'm a sea king. We eat you for breakfast," he said. "You're trapped now. Turn around," Ace said. The fishman, who had a new row of teeth now, turned around to see a swarm of sea kings. "You have nowhere to go. It isn't fun fighting you anymore."

But he tried one last thing and rushed at Ace with something in his hand before shoving it into his mouth when Ace wasn't prepared and missed the vital part of his kick. It crushed his enemy's leg, but whatever was in his mouth burned badly and he started to lose control of his body, sinking. He was paralyzed. He couldn't even call for help.

Namur and Jinebi were in shock when Ace's leg was grabbed again and he was dragged deeper and out of the bubble. His eyes were wide as he silently shouted for help. Hody thought he could get away from the sea kings, but he just hurt one of their own, and he didn't get a foot away from the bubble before he was in the nearest sea king's stomach, his blood slipping out of its mouth.

Ace continued to sink, fearful, but a sea king rested him on it's head and swam back up, putting him back in the bubble, where Namur dragged him up to the surface. When he reached the surface, he started gasping and choking on air. He wanted to tell Namur to put him back in, but Jinbei did that, pulling him back under. He couldn't breathe out of his lungs, but his gills were functioning.

He would suffocate if he went to the surface. Was it poison? He wanted Marco, but Marco couldn't reach him there. He was cold and scared. Namur was there, and Jinbei had left to go get medical help. "You're gonna be okay. Jinbei went to get medical help. Blink once for yes, twice for no. Are you able to move?" Ace blinked twice. "Are you in pain?" No, again.

Marco was there, in a bubble, and took his hands. "You're gonna be fine. Help is on the way." Ace couldn't move or say anything. "What a cheap move," Marco said, using poison when he couldn't win." Namur agreed. He went over the whole fight.

"Ace was winning until he used a vial of liquid," Namur said. Ace was so embarrassed. He'd talked big and then got poisoned. His face turned red on the white parts. Marco kissed his head as best as he could through the bubble. Thank goodness Ace could breathe in water, too, not through his lungs.

It didn't take long for doctors to come. They asked him how he was feeling with yes or no questions. "We think you were poisoned by blue ring octopus venom. We have a treatment for it, but you will need to sleep it off."

Since his skin was not able to be injected, the doctor injected it into his gums. Then he was given a sedative, and Ace drifted to sleep.


	6. Entering the New World

**SleepyMorning: Lol. I could totally see her shipping them. Same with Rebecca if she met them in this fic. Since she teases Coby about liking Luffy in canon.**

**Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you!** ****

#### haso12123: Don't worry! But poor Marco if he wasn't. :( 

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: <3 <3 <3**

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**Back with another chapter! I also finished the only fic I've posted that wasn't done beforehand, so check it out if you ship ZoLu! Enjoy~**

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Marco felt like tearing his hair out. He was so worried. He wanted to kill that fishman who stooped so low to use poison when he was losing. Ace was staying in the underwater hospital, while Marco stayed in a bubble. Blue ringed octopus venom could kill you. Living in the ocean, fishmen had found a cure to most poisons from any underwater creature, so Ace was going to live and be just fine after he woke up from sleeping the effects off.

No one else could visit, Marco was the only one, and stayed by his bed all night, forgoing food and sleep. He'd never been so worried about someone else before. He was so scared, even though the rational part of him knew Ace would be fine. He wanted to kiss him, see him smile. Not be sleeping so still.

He talked to Pops over the den den, and he was worried. The Neptune army was being searched for any accomplices of Hody. The fishman had clearly been wanting to take Ace to somewhere they couldn't follow. Out of the bubble, and they got him there. It was only thanks to the sea kings that Ace hadn't been kidnapped. Marco was eternally thankful for their help.

Shriahoshi had come down, but had been too big to fit into the room, clearly. She was crying about it, very obviously already attached to Ace. they would be leaving the moment Ace was well again. The ship was being coated as he waited for Ace to wake.

It was the next morning that Ace moaned and opened his eyes. Marco was there immediately, leaning over him. "Marco?" Ace asked, confused as to where he was. "Where am I?"

"The hospital. You were treated for the poisoning," Marco answered. Tears floated from Ace's eyes. He was humiliated. "You won the battle but lost to his pathetic trickery. There's no need to be embarrassed."

"I made this cocky boast and then he got me," Ace muttered, not needing to wipe the tears away as they mixed with the water all around him. "I want to leave," he said.

Marco said that they were leaving after he was cleared. Ace nodded, and curled on his side. "Ace, I love you," Marco said suddenly. His feelings had developed so quickly, but they were so nice, made him warm and fuzzy inside. Ace looked at him with wide eyes. Marco leaned down and kissed him through the bubble, which didn't really work.

Ace muttered, "I love you, too. I'm sorry I scared you. I don't want you to doubt me from now on because of this." Marco shook his head.

"You're not weak, I know that. I've lost fights before, too. I'm not perfect," he said. "Besides, you've literally never fought another fishman before. For your first time, you were incredible." Ace nodded, and a doctor came in to check over him. A bubble was put over his head, and Ace was able to breathe in it, unlike after he was first poisoned.

Ace was able to walk not long after, and went through mobility tests, seeing if his body was functioning normally again, which it was. He did not leave Marco's side the whole time, since Marco didn't let him, there every minute.

When they finally got onto the surface, Ace was walking fine, and the two met up with Thatch and Namur, who were the most worried. Namur had seen the whole thing, after all. "I'm fine," Ace said before either could ask. "I just want to leave this island." the two commanders nodded, and Marco was holding his hand.

They got to the ship, and Ace went straight into Marco's room and laid on the bed. He was moping, and Marco felt for him. Marco went out and helped the ship leave. Ace didn't say goodbye to anyone, and just kept to himself. The ship had made this ascent many times, so they were seasoned in this, and easily they were on their way back up to the surface, to the New World. Marco went back inside and to his room to see Ace was laying on his stomach with his face in the pillow. Marco sat next to him and traced lines on his back while he slept. Marco knew he was sleeping from his slow breathing. He left kisses over his shoulder blades and the nape of his neck, massaging his strong back.

Ace sighed into the pillow, but was still asleep. Marco kept doing it while Ace melted into the bed the longer it continued. He stopped when there was a knock on the door. He got up and walked to the door silently to see Pops there. Marco closed the door behind him. "How is he?"

"He's sleeping. He's very embarrassed about the loss," Marco said quietly. "He was so happy, too…" Whitebeard put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"He'll move on. He won the physical battle but relaxed at just the wrong moment. If he had exited the bubble and the sea kings had not been there, Namur would not have been able to get through. Perhaps Jinbei could have, but those bubbles are thick. It was only because this Hody was so fast that it worked.

"We are still welcome to the island, of course, but Otohime was not happy with the sea kings killing them. I know she is a peace lover, but we're pirates. And we don't take kindly to anyone who threatens to or does hurt one of our own," the captain explained.

Marco frowned. "She should not complain when it was not Ace that did the killing. As much as he influences the sea kings, he doesn't force them to do things. That was pretty clear when he convinced them to free themselves," he said sourly.

Whitebeard nodded in agreement. "I know, son. I agree. But let's move past that. Why don't you go back to Ace? I know you want to." Marco nodded and turned around and went back to the bed after closing the bedroom door. Ace was still asleep.

Marco kept the lights off but turned the small lamp in the corner on so he could do paperwork about everything that happened regarding Fishman Island. He was halfway through the third page, which was talking about when Ace was with Shirahoshi and the sea kings, when Ace came from from behind him, wrapping his arms around Marco's chest, resting his head on his neck. Marco put his hand over Ace's interlocked ones on his chest. "Morning, sunshine," Marco said quietly.

"Sorry I was moping," he said sincerely.

"Everyone is allowed to be upset about something," Marco replied, putting his pen down and holding both of Ace's, bringing them to his lips to kiss each knuckle

Ace sighed, "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble for everyone."

Marco turned and kissed his jaw. "It's not your fault that pirates decided to try and steal you. Everything was self-defense, and you didn't kill anyone. Sea kings did, whether it was protecting you or freeing themselves due to your influence. We would never let you get taken, but that almost happened. I am sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I don't know what I would have done if you were taken away like that for good." Marco had a look of misery on his face, and Ace pulled him to the bed.

He rolled Marco onto his back and draped himself over him, hands reaching to either side to hold them. "You feel so strongly for me so suddenly. I hope I'm not a fling for you," Ace said quietly.

"No! No, you're not a fling, Ace," Marco said quickly, hands coming to rest on Ace's lowest spine. "I don't know why or how it happened so fast, but you're not a fling. I promise." Ace kissed his chest, peppering little kisses across his collar bones.

"Maybe your phoenix finally found a mate. Of the sea and sky," he murmured against Marco's skin. Marco suddenly flipped them, now hovering over Ace, who looked a little surprised. He pressed Ace's hands into the sheets around his head and kissed him deeply. Marco straddled Ace, running his hands along Ace's patterned bare chest, circling his pecs and then his protruding hip bones. They slipped under his belt to thumb his hips.

Now wasn't the time to be intimate. Not yet, he wanted Ace to know he wasn't temporary and making love to him so soon might increase his doubts. Marco could see the sheets darkening under Ace's arms, but he couldn't care less. His sheets would be stained from now on and he didn't care. "I love you," Marco whispered, leaning forward again and kissing him, lips moving from his jaw up to his ears. Ace was breathing quickly now. "You're not temporary. You're mine, forever. I'm yours," Marco said, making eye contact.

Ace put his hand on Marco's cheek, arms dripping purple poison, spines soaking in it. "Never abandon me," he said softly.

" _Never."_

-x-

Ace and Marco were out on deck when the ship broke the surface, and came across a swarm of sea kings. "Ace! Keep them away while we fix the sails!" Namur shouted. Ace ran to the side, but the sea kings were not attacking them, but swarmed around something huge on the water's surface. A massive whale they were all fighting over.

He didn't need to distract them, they were fully distracted by the source of food. It was storming like he couldn't believe it, and he kept looking out for anyone falling over the side of the ship, but everyone held on well.

The sea kings did not come for them, didn't even notice their presence, and they were sailing away and through the storm. Ace looked around, the New World already testing them, throwing the ship around until suddenly the storm dispersed, like it was never there. Ace looked so confused, and the pirates laughed at his face.

"Welcome to the New World, Ace!" Thatch shouted, hair ruined and plastered to his neck and face from the rain. "Prepare yourself to the opposite of the Calm Belt."

Ace was exhausted by the first day. They entered storm after storm and Ace was tired, laying on the deck. Haruta came over and crouched next to him. He poked Ace, who groaned. "Go away I'm resting until the next storm comes," he grumbled into the deck. Haruta laughed.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry," Haruta said, patting his back. "Dinner time while we can still eat." Ace got up and followed him inside. Ace could not understand how everyone wasn't dead on their feet. He got his food and sat down next to Marco. They were all drinking so happily and energetically! "Teach me your ways," Ace said tiredly.

"Experience. And you're going to get a lot of it. Don't worry! The New World is the most dangerous place in the world, but also the most exciting. More pirates to fight, though less marines. We're in the land of the yonko, now," Thatch said animatedly. Some time after the last storm, he went to fix up his hair.

"Like Pops?" They hadn't talked much about the yonkos in detail. Ace hadn't been there that long though it felt like he'd been there for years to everyone, including Ace. He got along well with the pirates since almost day one.

"Yeah. There are four. Pops, Shanks, Big Mom and Kaido. Pops and Shanks are the decent ones," Izo said. "Then there is Big Mom and Kaido. They're both monsters, but they keep to their own places. Big Mom sticks to her own island, but her children go out on missions. Kaido is in Wano currently, which is cut off from the rest of the world. We don't have to worry about him directly."

Thatch added, "Shanks is the youngest of all of them. But he's strong. He lost an arm but is still a yonko. I've never seen him at full strength, so I don't know why he's a yonko."

Marco scoffed. "He's so annoying. Every time he visits, he knocks the crew unconscious and _always_ tries to get me to join his crew. Always, every fucking time and I say no every time." Ace laughed.

"You can't help that you're impressive, anyone would want you," Ace said with a smile.

"I'm not some prize for people to win," Marco replied. Ace gave him a mischievous smile. "Fine, I'm your prize. Happy?" Ace grinned and the table made retching noises. "Shut up, fools." But he sounded embarrassed. Ace just laughed. He ate quickly so he could finish before another damn storm arrived.

That night, Ace moved his things to Marco's room. It was just clothes, really. Ace didn't have anything else. The sheets were already stained purple from earlier, but Marco hadn't said anything about them so neither did Ace. He crawled into bed in his underwear, where Marco wore loose shorts.

"What? I like sleeping in my underwear," Ace said with a blush when Marco raised his eyebrows. Marco crawled in next to him, and Ace made sure to flatten his spines. "I'm sorry if they leak in my sleep. I don't know how to stop it," he mumbled. Marco kissed his shoulder.

"Not your fault. If I cared, I wouldn't let you sleep on the sheets and make you sleep on a towel," Marco whispered against his neck. "Goodnight, Ace."

"Night," Ace said and drifted to sleep in Marco's warm embrace. The bed really was years ahead of the guest bed in quality and comfort. He fell asleep quickly, and stayed asleep. Even as his poison leaked all over Marco's chest and the bed, neither of them woke. The spines stayed flat, so they didn't puncture his skin.

When they woke up, it was a complete mess. Ace woke before Marco did, and sat up, burying his face in his hands. It was a disaster, the sheets and nice comforter were completely ruined. Ace didn't want Marco to wake up to it, so he ran into the bathroom to get a towel and wiped up himself and Marco's chest, and then tried to get any of it out of the bed. But Marco woke up.

Ace froze in horror, and looked away when Marco noticed the mess. "I'm sorry. I ruined the blankets and the sheets and your pyjama pants. It's like I pissed the bed from my spines," he said in complete shame. Marco stood up and walked to his side of the bed. He pulled the hands away from Ace's face, and said, "Sleeping next to you is worth any mess."

"Liar," Ace hissed. "How are you okay with this?" he asked pointing to the bed. "It looks awful! It's sticky, and burns you. How are you okay with this?" he questioned again quietly. Marco took both of his hands and stared straight into his eyes.

"I don't care about the mess. Have you seen the rest of my room? It does no lasting damage to me, I don't care about it. You can't control it, it's not your fault," Marco insisted. When Ace didn't look convinced, Marco said, "Do you want to sleep in a bathrobe? They're thick and would not have the poison leak through it so much. It's far from sleeping in your underwear, but if it will make you feel better, I have multiple of them."

Ace looked to the bed and at his own body. "This never happened before," he said sadly. "Only when I'm out of the water."

Marco picked up the towel and began to wipe the substance off of Ace's arms and back. "C'mon, let's go drain the rest of it so they don't leak anymore today," Marco said in an encouraging voice, and Ace followed him into the bathroom. The small bathroom, and they both pushed out the remaining poison. Ace was humiliated. He ruined the bed. Everytime he turned around to glance at the mess, Marco would push his jaw until he wasn't facing it anymore.

Ace dressed after showering after Marco had. He put on a pair of blue shorts today. It clashed with his colors, but all of the black shorts were dirty. He was upset going to breakfast, not happy at all even though there had been no storms.

"What's wrong?" Namur asked when Ace sat and picked at his food.

"My spines leaked all over the bed," he said simply. Haurta said, "Well, you can't control it, right?"

Ace frowned. "That doesn't mean it isn't a problem. Just one I can't control, which is even worse." He ate some of the food, knowing this might be his only chance to have a full meal.

Haruta unhelpfully said, "It's not like you're peeing the bed or anything." He was trying to make Ace feel better, but it wasn't working. Ace pointed out that it was _worse_ than pee. It's poisonous, dark colored, and sticky. Marco was frowning deeply, and put his arm around Ace's shoulders in comfort, though the fishman continued to pout.

When they were out on deck, Ace sitting on the whale figurehead and staring out at the endless ocean, Marco approached him. "Ace, do you want to move back to your old bedroom?" he asked in a sad voice. The younger shook his head.

"I liked sleeping with you. I didn't like waking up," Ace said in a flat voice. His head turned to the side to see two sea kings surface but not go near them. They swam away. Ace wished they hadn't. He wanted a distraction. "Can I go on a swim?" he asked, desperately wanting to be in the water. He felt more in control in the water. Maybe it would make him happy.

Marco looked to the calm water. "I wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't you, but I don't see why not. Come back up if we call you," he said. Ace nodded and dove over the side of the ship, landing in the water with a satisfying splash. He swam around the ship, easily keeping up with it. The water was so dark here, in the Calm Belt it was clear and Ace could see a long ways.

A sea king came up from under him. For anyone else, it probably would have been terrifying, but to Ace, it was a welcome distraction. He swam down to it, and asked, "Can I?" and put his hand on its head.

"Okay," it replied, echoing in his mind. Ace put his hand on it's fin on its head and it was pulled along below the ship. He sighed, enjoying the encounter. "You should be careful. There are bad people ahead."

Ace opened his eyes and asked what it meant. "They poison water. That place is not good to live in. You shouldn't swim there. The ship should not swim there." Ace thanked it for the information, and surfaced. He pushed his hair out of his eyes. A rope ladder was thrown down for him, and he climbed up it quickly.

"Marco! We should change course. Apparently someone is poisoning the water ahead and it will be bad for the ship," Ace said, grateful for the distraction. Marco looked to Pops. "Sea king told me not to swim there and that the ship should not swim there. Didn't tell me any real specifics."

Whitebeard told Namur to turn the ship so they would not pass through whatever the sea king had warned Ace of. Which was good when they just barely passed three floating and decomposing sea kings. Ace looked at it sadly, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Marco stood next to Ace and said, "Never thought a sea king would give us advice." Ace nodded, and walked away from the railing. Ace was in a bad mood for much of the day. When Ace was in a bad mood, he did not take it out on others, he self-isolated. To an extreme. He shut down completely until people finally left him alone. The only thing that was able to penetrate the funk was Marco running soothing flames across Ace's thick skin.

He was made for Ace. Or Ace was made for him.

At bedtime, Ace wore the bathrobe Marco told him about, and the sheets had been changed. But, before bed, Marco made Ace go to the shower and push out any built up poison. By that point, Marco was completely immune to it. It didn't burn at all anymore. It was just messy.

Ace went to bed that night hot, but not so bad. He didn't like wearing the robe, but if it kept the mess down to a minimum, he'd wear it. Marco slept with his chest flush against Ace's back. His arm was wrapped around his younger lover.

When they woke up, the robe was stained beyond repair. But only a little had leaked from his legs. Not nearly enough to freak out. Just a small puddle and some tiny dots. Marco smiled at him. "See, not so bad," he pointed out. Ace rolled over and kissed him chastely on the lips. Marco didn't let him get very far before he pulled him back, hand behind Ace's head, and kissed him deeper. Since they'd drained the spines, kissing didn't make too much seep out, even after Marco harshly pinned Ace to the bed and bit down on his skin in multiple places. It didn't hurt, of course, but it made him tingly in a different way.

A storm hit during their kissing, so they ran out and onto the deck to manage. The pirates out there were all in their pajamas as well, some in nothing but underwear. They got the ship out of the storm and then headed inside to get ready for breakfast. Ace was glad that the tables were bolted to the floor and the cupboards were lockable or the kitchen and galley would be a mess.

Ace had gotten out of the robe and draped it over the shower rack after he washed off and changed. "How did the poison go last night?" Thatch asked, sincerely wondering and worried over it. Ace explained about the robe keeping it down to a minimum. "That's great! I'm happy for you," he said cheerfully. Ace smiled at him.


	7. Coveted

**SleepyMorning: I'm glad you liked it! I love fluff, though the fluff is accompanied by drama for the rest of the fic.**

#### Otaku_Girl2176: I don't know what poisoned the water. Lol I didn't focus on that part too much. Maybe it was people dumping stuff into the water? Hmm. Well, just make up your own reason!

#### Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you!

#### Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Anyone sleeping in my stories is cute. Well, except when I make them have nightmares. That's one of my tropes. Nightmares are the best to write.

#### Iris Viggiano: It is correct to be worried. Mwahaha.

**Maldea: tank you!**

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**Tons of stuff happen in this chapter, and the drama and suspense part of the story starts. Enjoy~**

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Ace was napping in Marco's embrace on deck later that day, dead to the world, when the newscoo dropped the paper down on deck. Atmos picked it up and brought it to Pops before he stopped and grew pale, holding a wanted poster. Marco wondered what it was, but did not get up. He didn't want to wake Ace. he was tired after the storms, not used to them. After all, he'd lived in the Calm Belt, where the weather was the same every day. He'd get used to it, Ace was a fast adapter.

Atmos brought the paper to Pops, who narrowed his eyes at it. Now Marco was worried. Even more so when Pops glanced to Ace and Marco. But Marco still didn't get up, letting Ace sleep while he had the chance.

Marco was distracted when the spines on Ace's body were no longer flat and raised out. He woke Ace, who looked scared. "You okay?" The spines on his back flattened. Ace nodded and said he'd had a bad dream, thanking Marco for waking him up. Well, now the phoenix knew a tell that Ace was having a nightmare.

Ace got up and stretched, so Marco took the opportunity to stand and walk to Pops, asking what the problem was. Whitebeard looked hesitant to tell him but didn't hide it. He handed Marco the paper and his eyes widened and then narrowed. Ace had a bounty now. A photo of him from the side, smiling brightly. Under it, it explained about his power to talk to sea kings. What was most concerning was the amount. 1,000,000,000 berries. Higher than anyone on the crew besides Pops.

Marco fisted his hands and the paper crumpled. "Everyone knows, now, then. The government will want him and come after us, no doubt," Pops said in a low voice. "But we will protect him, don't worry. Besides, many bounty hunters will be deterred by his bounty and affiliation. It says he's a Whitebeard, so that will throw many off of the bandwagon to capture him."

Marco sighed and nodded. Ace walked over, and asked if everything was okay. Marco showed him the crumpled wanted poster. "That high?" he asked in surprise.

Whitebeard said, "You are now one of the most powerful weapons. Shirahoshi was previously that, but she cannot control it like you can. You're going to have hunters after you form now on. You must be alert and careful." Ace nodded. He would be. "It is lucky you are a fishman, and there are very few marines and pirates who are fishmen. The water would be your greatest escape. It is on islands that you will need to be most careful."

A few commanders had gathered and were listening gravely. They all needed to protect their youngest brother. "We must be aware of other yonko wishing to have Ace since he's so powerful. I doubt Kaido will leave Wano for this, but his crew might. Big Mom must not be ignored. I don't doubt she'd send one of her children to us. We must be careful," Pops said. The commanders nodded, and promised they'd look after Ace.

"Sorry about this," Ace said. "I don't mean to cause trouble." Haruta put his hand on Ace's shoulder.

"It's fine, Ace. It'll just keep us on our toes." The other commanders nodded in agreement, giving him reassuring smiles. Ace smiled softly at them in gratefulness, which he didn't need to say. Marco kissed his forehead.

"We'll never let anyone hurt you," Marco said, hugging him. Ace hugged him back, and Marco ran his fingers down Ace's soft spines. It didn't burn anymore at all. He was glad of that.

Thatch asked if it hurt for Marco to touch them like that. After all, Thatch had been burned by it before. Marco shook his head. "Doesn't hurt to touch anymore," he replied honestly. Ace was so glad, and hugged him tighter.

The rest of the day was storm free, which Ace was so glad of. He hated the storms, clearly. While he tried not to show it, it was clear they scared him, were so unknown and extreme. No one commented on it even once. Many knew the feeling from being in the New World for the first time.

They came across the first marine ship that day. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. The Whitebeards took care of them easily, and Ace was napping in the bedroom. It was late, near dinner time. "Find the fishman!" the captain of the marine ship he shouted. That got them all killed, not just embarrassingly stranded. The ship burned into nothing, everyone on board dead.

They were easy to pick off, so Marco wasn't too worried. Over the past few weeks, Ace had made himself nice and cozy in everyone else's hearts. He was their little brother, and they'd do anything to protect him and keep him happy. Though Marco didn't count as an older brother now.

Dinner that night, Ace moped about missing the marine fight since he'd been asleep while it happened. "Don't worry, there will be plenty of battles to have," Thatch said, patting his shoulder. Ace was still moping. Then, he slammed his head into his food. "Well, I've never seen someone get so angry they did _that."_

Ace stayed like that for a good minute before the others became worried, and Marco pulled him back from the food. They'd been having sandwiches, so not much food got on his face. And he was unconscious. "Ace! Ace, are you okay?" Marco asked frantically. Ace didn't wake up. Marco picked him up and ran to the infirmary, a few commanders following.

"Whiskey! Whiskey, help!" Marco shouted. The nurse came out and saw Marco laying Ace on the bed. But, before Whiskey could ask what happened, Ace's eyes opened sluggishly. "Ace? Ace, are you okay?"

The fishman looked confused. "What do you mean? Why am I in here?"

"You passed out at dinner all of the sudden," Marco said in deep concern. Ace sat up and said he felt fine. If not a bit sleepy.

Whiskey spoke next, asking, "Have you been experiencing anything off lately? Maybe something small, not something major." Ace thought for a minute, before Marco thought of something.

"He's been tired a lot. He's taking more naps," Marco pointed out. Whiskey looked like she had a feeling she knew what was wrong with Ace.

She explained, "Those symptoms lead me to believe he has developed narcolepsy. There is no other illness or disorder that causes you to pass out like that and then wake up fine. He may develop other symptoms. Luckily, Ace has incredibly durable and thick bones and skin. He won't be injured if he falls on something like someone else would."

Ace stood up, and felt completely fine. "So I'm just gonna sleep a lot?" he asked. "That's not too bad." But Marco disagreed. What would happen if he passed out in the water and they couldn't get to him? What happened if he passed out in the presence of marines or pirates? He didn't want to scare Ace, though, so he didn't voice his concern.

Whiskey told him to get lots of rest when he can, and that she is going to tell Pops he needs more sleep, and won't be slacking off by taking naps. Not that anyone in there thought he'd say anything other than to get rest when he needed it.

There were many people on the ship with health problems. Diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, they even had one pirate, years ago, that developed cancer and died. So, narcolepsy wasn't as bad as it could be. Marco would try to remember that. Ace was excused from the infirmary to go finish his food.

The table asked him what the hell happened, and Ace explained that Whiskey said he had narcolepsy. While Ace still didn't realize how dangerous that could be, the rest of the commanders did, and looked concerned. Marco shook his head to tell them not to voice that concern. Marco didn't want to worry or scare Ace.

That night, after draining Ace's over-producing spines, Ace was in a new robe, this one red. Marco really didn't care about them getting stains on them. He was keeping one blue one for himself, but would let Ace have the other three. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, before Marco even got the chance to get into bed. He kissed Ace's cheek before settling in behind him.

He woke up at 3:15 to find Ace was awake but looked exhausted. "Ace? You okay, baby?"

Ace turned his head. "I'm so tired but can't fall back asleep," he said in a thick voice. Marco had no remedy. He knew no songs to sing, no sleep medication in his room. But he stayed up with Ace for the next hour, and finally, the younger drifted to sleep and, as far as he knew, stayed asleep.

When they woke up, the robe was not too badly stained. Draining them the night before had been the right move. "Not so bad today, right?" Marco asked nicely as he dressed in the bathroom, with the door barely open, but enough to talk. Ace had already washed off the poison with a wet towel.

"Yeah. Thanks for the robe. Sorry I'm ruining them," Ace said. Marco waved it off, pointing out that he never left his room in them in the first place. The good thing about the poison was that it didn't get crusty. It turned more into a hardened puddle. If it's on something flat, you can peel it off of the floor after it dried. If it's on the robe, you could pick the little pieces off, but that took a while. It did leave a stain, however.

The two left the bedroom, holding hands, and headed to breakfast. Pops was reading the paper, sitting at the table with a pinched face. He hadn't told anyone what he was reading that made him upset. And he closed it fully when Ace sat down. Marco noticed, many of the commanders noticed, Ace did not.

He ate breakfast happily, joking with Haruta and Thatch, while Marco observed Pops' face discreetly. After breakfast, Ace went outside to go for a swim since the ship was going slowly, not much wind present. Marco asked Namur to go with him in case he passed out in the water. He argued that Ace would eventually wake up, and would not drown, as well as not be eaten by sea kings. The fishman told him to not worry so much or it would upset Ace.

Marco knew he was right, but it still made him uneasy. But, Ace came back up, perfectly happy, an hour later. During that hour, Marco approached Pops about the newspaper. "What is so bad in the paper?" he asked at the large chair Pops was sitting on, like usual observing his children.

"Big Mom has sent two ships out of Totto Land. The day that Ace's wanted poster came out. The newspaper does not reach Kaido, so we shouldn't worry about him. It could be a coincidence, and we are many months away from Totto Land. Try not to worry. If Big Mom picks a fight with us, we have enough allies to decimate her islands. New World pirates are not like those in Paradise. But a war with another yonko would be messy." Marco nodded, knowing that was definitely true.

Ace walked over and hugged Marco, getting him soaked in water. Then he dashed off when Marco gave him a dangerous stare. He was laughing hard, and then fell and landed hard on the deck. Passed out. Marco hurried over, but Ace was not injured.

Whitebeard sighed. "Whiskey told me that laughter induces a sleep attack. She also said she's working on medication for him." Marco nodded, glad Ace could get treatment for this, and sat down with him in his lap. The sleep attacks didn't last long enough to tuck him in, so he made him comfortable out on deck.

People joked and busied themselves around the deck, like any normal day. Marco kissed behind Ace's ear. As he slept, Marco noticed that his spines did not bleed out. That was good. Ace woke up ten minutes later, looking confused. "Did I pass out?" he asked. Marco nodded, and the fishman sighed. "This is stupid."

"Don't worry, Whiskey is working on medication for it," Marco assured him. "Don't know when it will be done, but it will be." Acce nodded, but still wasn't happy.

When Ace tried to get up, Marco tightened his arms. "Stay. Just for a minute," the blonde said quietly. Ace chuckled, but relaxed back, leaning into Marco's chest, spines completely flat so they did no damage. "I love you."

"Love you, too. What's with the PDA?" Ace asked curiously. Marco shook his head, like it was nothing that he wouldn't usually do. It was because he was worried. He knew it wouldn't go wrong for a long time, but he still worried.

-x-

Two days later, Whiskey made the first batch of pills for Ace. human medication worked on fishmen, and since Ace was half human, there should be no problems. They were capsules that Ace took at bed time. They tasted bad, but he was grateful for anything to stop the sleep attacks and help him stay asleep at night longer.

He was told to take periodic naps, which he had no real problem with. After all, he got to sleep on the best mattress. He melted into the surface, like he was sleeping on a cloud. Marco often went to check on him, but didn't nap with him often. He said he didn't want to risk waking Ace up, even if he loved cuddling with him.

It was around lunch time, and Ace was having a long nap. He barely registered arms picking him up, his body used to Marco doing that. He did wake up, however, when he realized something was wrong with the arms holding him up. He opened his eyes to see a complete stranger carrying him to the bathroom. He jumped out of her arms, demanding to know who she was.

Then two small creatures rushed from behind him that he didn't notice, and cuffed his feet together. He started shouting for help, but a gag was put in his mouth. He was shoved towards a large mirror in the room that had not been there before. He knew these people were bad, and he did not want to get close to that mirror.

He couldn't walk backwards, so he slammed the creepy woman forward, startling her, and broke a spine off of his arm and stabbed her in the eyes with it, before her throat. She screamed bloody murder, the poison in her eeys and bleeding from her throat. He snapped the cuffs with all his strength and took the faces of what looked like chess pieces and crushed their skulls on the floor.

He saw people in the mirror and punched it to pieces. Thatch flooded into the room to see the bloody mess around Ace. "Thatch, get Pops," Ace commanded, and stepped away from the bodies. The woman had died, bleeding out. And maybe the poison reached her brain. He was shaking. That was too close, way too close. He didn't want to think of what would have happened if he was pulled into that mirror and was breathing quickly.

Pops and Marco entered the room and saw Ace, one of his spines bleeding badly, and not bleeding poison, but regular blood. His hands were coated in blood, too. "Ace, what happened?" Pops demanded, and Ace pointed to the bathroom.

"This woman tried to drag me into the mirror. My door was closed, I didn't hear it open. There were people in the mirror, so I broke it," Ace said, voice shaking. "I killed her before I was dragged into the mirror." Marco ran forward, and hugged Ace, pulling him away from the mess of the bathroom.

Pops asked Ace what the people in the mirror looked like. "A few very large people and a bunch of these things," Ace said, pointing to the living chess pieces. Whitebeard commanded them to dump the three in the ocean. He carried the woman while Ace and Marco carried the chess pieces.

Ace called for a sea king, and dropped the food in the water for them. It didn't take even five seconds for a large sea king's head to pop out of the water, bite down on the bodies and then dive down again. Whitebeard put a hand on Ace's shoulder. "Lets go get your spine treated." Ace looked down at it, and it was crusted in blood, but not dripping it anymore. He touched it and hissed in pain.

Marco walked him, still a bit shaky, to the infirmary. Marco was the only one who could handle the poison without any pain, so he treated it. He disinfected the tip, put pain cream on it, and wrapped it in gauze and then fabric so the gauze wouldn't fall apart if it started leaking or bleeding again. "Do you know if it will grow back?" Ace shook his head. Marco leaned forward and kissed him.

"Was that a devil fruit? Going through the mirror?" he asked. No one else on the crew knew about the infiltration yet, not even those who saw the dead bodies carried out. Pops had told them not now.

"Yeah. I don't see it being anything else," Marco replied. Ace was hurting on his spine. Like a zinging feeling. He didn't let the pain show, not wanting to worry Marco. He wondered if it would ever grow back. But it had saved him, breaking it off. He was still unsettled. Someone got into his room without anyone noticing. If Ace had woken even a few moments after he did, he would no longer be on this ship. "At least, with her dead, no one else will be coming through the mirrors."

Ace asked if there were any other teleportation devil fruits. And Marco nodded. "Though you have to be relatively close for it to work. As long as they don't get near our ship, that will not be a problem. It was good you didn't let her go back through the mirror or we'd have to smash all of them." Marco put a strand of hair out of Ace's face and behind his ear. "It's okay. You don't need to be worried now."

"I can't help it," Ace said. "I never thought I'd be hunted about this. It was a lot safer for me in the Calm Belt." When he noticed a flash of fear go across Marco's face, he said, "I didn't say I wanted to go back, just that it was safer." Marco sighed and nodded, relief clear on his face.

Marco leaned forward and kissed Ace deeply, bent over while Ace was sitting on the bed, head tilted upwards to meet the kiss. They both heard the clearing of a throat behind them. "Ace is treated, you can leave now," Whiskey said, though her cheeks were both a little pink, no matter how flat her voice and face was.

Ace got up and flattened his spines on the injured arm, gritting his teeth at the pain. Marco took his hand and they both left the infirmary. Marco put his arm around Ace's waist, like he liked to do. He always ran his fingers up and down the side of Ace's ribs, since he was always shirtless. "I was thinking," Ace said. "When should I get the mark? Everyone has it right?"

Marco smiled, face lighting up. "You could get it anytime you want. Do you know what you want it to look like?" Marco asked in an almost uncharacteristic happy tone. Ace nodded.

"Since my skin is so dark, I was thinking I could do a contrasting outline. White on the black parts and black on the white parts. That's all I can picture working on my skin," Ace explained. "I want the jolly roger mark, not the one you have."

Marco grinned. "It'll look great. Izo is a great tattoo artist. He does all of the tattoos. You can talk to him today, if you want. Where do you want to get it?" Ace pointed to his back. He didn't wear a shirt, why would he get it anywhere else? He wanted it big so people knew who his family was. His only and first family. "You know the spines will go right through the middle right?"

Ace frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"No, I was just saying. It could line up with the vertical bone. Will probably look pretty cool," Marco said. Ace decided to go to Izo now, not having anything else to do. They found him in the library. "Izo, Ace wants to get the tattoo," Marco said with a smile, which was reflected on Izo's face.

When asked, Ace explained what he wanted, and Izo said he would gladly do it anytime. So, Ace decided to do it the next day. As both a distraction for him and a mood-lifter for the crew, especially those closest to Ace. Namely Marco, Namur, Thatch and Haruta.

Because of what had happened that day, Marco went a little overboard (in Ace's unspoken opinion), and stayed in the bedroom every time Ace napped. The pills had just been started, and he still took naps. Frequently. And everytime he passed out, Marco took him to the room. Before the infiltration, he let him sleep out on deck.

After dinner, which was somber after everyone was alerted with someone being on their ship that was not welcome, Marco and Ace went to their room early. Even if it was being overly precautious, Marco locked the bathroom door from the outside by having Fossa remodel it. There were two locks now. One that faced the interior of the bathroom and one that was the exterior. Marco also locked the bedroom door, which was rare.

Before he locked the bathroom door, the two drained any built up poison, skipping over the broken spine on his arm. "Marco, please don't worry all the time now. I took care of it myself, didn't I?"

Marco was laying next to him on the bed, eyes wide awake, and he turned to frown at him. "I know that. It was just really scary for me. Not a lot scares me, but today did. I don't want anything to happen to you. I know you're strong on your own and have the full support of sea kings, but you were so vulnerable while you slept. I was so scared. No one had noticed her come before it was almost too late."

Ace moved so he was hovering over Marco. "Please don't make yourself sick with worry," he said. "I'll be okay. I can take care of myself. I know you've seen me lose before, like when I was paralyzed by the octopus venom, but I'm okay. Whiskey's pills are working well so far. I'll be okay," he insisted. Marco still didn't seem convinced. "What can I do to make you worry less?" he asked, hand on Marco's cheek, thumb brushing back and forth.

"I don't know," Marco answered honestly. Ace frowned. "I can't think of anything. I've never had someone to care for like I care for you."

Ace sighed and laid on his side. It was the opposite side of how he usually slept, but he didn't want to put pressure on the broken spine. He didn't have anything else to say if Marco didn't know what he could do to make the man worry less.


	8. Bad News

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thank you! Even more stuff happens in this chapter.**

**Maldea: Yes, yes he did.**

**Iris Viggiano: Thank you! I really like my alien Ace one, I make him so damn adorable and sweet. And there's suspense and stuff, too. I hope you enjoy that one as well.**

**Ariel_Lazarus: <3 <3 <3 <3**

**Otaku_Girl2176: Safe... * chuckles behind hand ***

* * *

Ace sat on the chair, chest against the back of it with his arms draped over the sides. Izo was tracing the jolly roger on his back, which had direct light shining on it, since parts of his skin was pitch black, so it made it a bit challenging. Ace's foot was tapping every slightly. Marco assured him that the inking didn't hurt too bad. A stinging feeling, but it didn't last forever.

"I'm gonna start now. Try not to move, okay?"

"Kay," Ace said, voice nervous. Marco held his hand, even if Ace didn't need it, he didn't flinch once from the tattoo. Since his skin was so thick, it needed multiple coats of white over the black. The spines on his back were taped down so there was no risk of Izo touching them. Marco was smiling the whole time while seeing the mark slowly form on the back of the man he loved.

Ace looked up at him and chuckled. "Like what you're seeing?" he asked. Marco blushed and nodded.

"It's finally definitive proof that you're part of this family," he answered. Ace smiled, and Marco watched the tattoo slowly take shape. It would not take too long since it was mostly outlines, only the eyes and mustache filled in. the eye that was on a white strip of skin would be colored in dark. Marco looked forward to seeing it, knowing no other tattoo would look like this one.

It took a couple hours, but they finally got a look at the newest Whitebeard tattoo. It was very unique and eye catching. Like an abstract drawing. Marco loved it, and told them he'd help Ace take care of it. The clear bandage was put over it and when they walked to lunch, everyone cheered at seeing the covering, where they could see the unique inking.

A party was had that night, and Pops was so happy he laughed for much of it. Ace drank to his heart's content, though it was harder for him to get drunk, similar to Marco, but not so extreme. A drunk Ace was a handsy and giggly one, not that Marco complained. The rest of the crew didn't like the heated and sudden make out scenes, but Marco just gave them shit eating grins when they got upset.

Though, Ace's body did not like alcohol in the long run because his hangovers were awful. He threw everything up almost violently and had terrible headaches. And every morning, he'd asked Marco why the hell he drank so much. "Why do I do this to myself?" he'd groan with his head in the toilet. If Ace was not his lover, he would have laughed at it. Hangovers for his brothers were funny, but Ace was concerning.

He brought him pills to help with the headache, and kept the lights off when entering the room. He was hesitant to go do his duties and leave Ace alone in the room, but when Ace promised he'd lock the bathroom door and would keep the bedroom one slightly open, Marco left, leaving Ace to sleep off his headache.

He left the room and went to talk to Namur about the chain of islands they were heading to. Last time they were there, they found two of their now subordinate crews, but they hadn't stuck long after that. Marco didn't know much about the islands, but wanted to know if it was safe to take Ace off. What kind of people lived there or if any of the islands were uninhabited. It was not fair Ace had just been introduced to the world outside of the Calm Belt and he was already a big red 'X' mark.

When he found Namur on deck charting the wind, he walked to him only for the ship to suddenly wrench to the side. Pirates started shouting about what was happening and Marco ran to the rail and looked down to see a huge sea king _pushing_ their ship off course! Never had any sea king interacted with the ship in such a way. At least, not before Ace came.

"Hey, wait! That's the island we're going to!" Haruta shouted, but Marco was yelling to pull the sails up or they'd tear. The pirates climbed up the ratlines and furled the protesting sails. "Get Ace, make them stop that!" Haruta shouted, angry with the beasts.

Marco knew they were doing it for a reason, and all of the screaming stopped when a huge plume of fire and smoke exploded from the dark mass that was the chain of islands they were to head to. The deck was silent as the sea king swam away. The sea kings had saved them from the volcano, or at least getting too close to the rupture.

The pirates looked at one another, all lost for words. "W-Well, unfurl the sails and let's head to the next nearest island," Marco said in the strongest voice he could manage, though he was a bit spooked as well. Ever since Ace joined, Marco had been conflicted between two realities. One: sea kings were monsters, ate people without a second thought. Incredibly brutal. Two: Ace was friends with sea kings, who helped him, assisted the Whitebeards escaping the Calm Belt and Ace had a completely different narrative about what they were.

Both were true, while both were wrong. But they had, without Ace asking or calling them, redirected the ship so it was not in danger. Ace was not just a sea king fishman, he was the fucking king of the sea kings.

Pops came out after the ship had steadied and looked concerned. "Sons, what happened?" the captain asked in worry and confusion. Everyone was screaming and then there was a massive explosion. Marco pointed to the burning islands.

"We were on course to dock there. Sea kings started pushing the ship away and then the volcano erupted," the first mate said simply, even though he was shaken up. Whitebeard looked dumbfounded, something that was truly a rarity. Then he laughed. Didn't say anything else, not knowing what to.

Ace came out, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight. "What happened?" he asked in a thick voice. Marco hurried over and pushed him inside, not liking he was making himself feel worse by going outside when he still had a bad hangover.

"A sea king moved the ship away from an exploding volcano. Did you call for them?" Marco asked quietly, leading Ace back to their room. He was obviously not well enough to leave the dark and quiet space. Ace shook his head. "Then I'm assuming word has spread that you're on this ship?" Marco questioned, not sure if that was the correct answer.

"I don't know. Those in the Calm Belt knew who I was," he said, laying on the bed and putting the pillow over his eyes, even though the room was very dark.

Marco leaned against the closed door. "This is so weird," he said. Ace asked if he was happy the sea king interfered. "Of course I am. We might have gotten into a mess if it hadn't changed out course. I swear, you're the king of sea kings."

Ace shrugged. "Maybe in a past life I was a sea king or something. Who knows?" Marco chuckled. Maybe that was true. Marco wondered how Ace was a sea king fishman in the first place. He didn't know much about his family, really nothing, so there wasn't any way to know if any of his ancestors were like this as well.

"Okay, go back to sleep, baby," Marco said softly when Ace groaned. He put a thumbs up, face still smothered by the pillow. Marco left the room and when he went back out on deck. Pops was on the den den with Shanks, he recognized his voice easily. Pops had a worried look on.

" _I don't know what happened, but the Big Mom pirates have sent more smaller ships. They sailed right past our ship, many of them. The main ship was there, but Big Mom was not,"_ Shanks said. Marco adopted a worried face, as did those listening around the captain.

Whitebeard sighed. "It was inevitable. Ace killed one of their members. A woman snuck onto the ship and tried to kidnap him. He stabbed her and we fed her body to sea kings. Of course we would retaliate if someone broke into our ship. She cannot be angry or surprised." It was idiotic for the female yonko to throw a fit when she broke the unspoken rule of not interfering with other yonko. Besides, she killed her own children. What's one more dead to her?

"It's the kids who were all on the ships. They're probably the furious ones," Shanks replied. Whitebeard sighed.

"Do you know who is on the ships? Did you recognize anyone specific?" Pops questioned. Marco was almost afraid of the answer. After all, they were dealing with someone who could basically control sea kings. They'd need stronger ones. Marco only knew the names of a handful of them, the ones with the higher bounties. Out of all of the children she had, only a small percentage actually had bounties. That didn't mean that the rest were not strong, just not well known. Like the woman who broke into their room. Marco and no one else had any idea who she was.

"I saw two of the three Sweet Commanders. Dogtooth and the woman, Smoothie. Not to mention some of the lower ranking ones," Shanks said in a grave voice. Marco pinched the bridge of his nose in stress. Great, they had one of the largest bounty pirate coming after them, angry and determined.

It was the right choice for Ace to kill the woman or she would have been able to enter the ship at any time. And all of the mirrors would have needed to be broken to prevent it. The spine on Ace's arm that was broken was in bad condition. Which made Marco angry. It was swollen at the base, even though it wasn't pulled out at the base, but snapped around ¾ of the way down. They feared it was infected. So Marco was pissed about that, that Ace had to injure himself in the first place.

"So, we have powerful, angry and vengeful pirates after Ace?" Whitebeard asked in a flat voice. The den den nodded sagely. "Damn it. Well, thank you for alerting us. I appreciate it," the old captain said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Stay safe." The den den hung up, and the deck was quiet.

"Well, the newest development today gives me hope. The sea king's know of Ace now, and whose ship he is on. I have no doubt that, if Big Mom's kids attack, the sea kings will help. We just need to make sure Ace stays on the ship so he can escape into the water if need be. That would be the safest place for him and the most dangerous place for any enemies threatening to hurt him.

"If Dogtooth really is one of those clearly heading towards us, then the fight will be very difficult.

The sea kings will be Ace's secret weapons. I am not saying they are going to help us, but they will help Ace be safe. They seem to sense his distress, like what happened at Fishman Island. Even if he can't call them, they may come themselves.

"I would not worry too much, but do stay alert and prepared. The island Shanks saw them sail past is far from where we are. We have plenty of time to prepare," Pops finished. "We will not hide it from Ace, so we'll tell him once the brat's hangover is passed."

"Aye," some said, and got back to what they were doing, though morale had dropped significantly. Marco went to his office to touch up on the report Ace had told him about the encounter to turn in into Pops. Marco still wanted Ace to become a commander, thinking he'd be great at it. He'd talked about it with Izo, and he had agreed that Ace fit perfectly. But Ace had said nothing about wanting the position since the last time he had declined.

The second division commander spot had been empty for years. They wished someone would fill it. Honestly, Ace was more commander material than some of the acting commanders, not that Marco would ever voice that opinion. Like Kingdew, who is not charismatic one bit. He was a good commander, but is not as charismatic as ones like Thatch and Vista. Ace got along with everyone. He was adored the week after he arrived.

He fit in well with the commanders from the start, and not just because he was closer with Marco before they were in a romantic relationship. And he was powerful even without being able to talk to sea kings.

After he turned in the paperwork to the first division slot near Pop's bedroom door, he headed into their bedroom to check on Ace. He was still in bed, wrapped in the blankets like a cocoon. Marco smiled and sat on the bed next to him. He didn't wake up.

Marco was worried. About Ace's safety. When he joined, he had no idea that the world would react like _this._ He just was looking for new things to see, to do. And now he was wanted by every powerful force besides Shanks. He brushed a strand of hair out of Ace's face. "I'll make sure you're safe. Forever," he said and leaned forward to kiss Ace's forehead gently.

It was at dinner that Ace could finally come out of the room and eat _everything._ A recently hungover Ace was a force of nature with just how much he ate. He already ate a lot on normal days, but these times he was like a black hole. Marco wondered how he'd relied on fish and coral and kelp in the sea for so long. The Calm Belt didn't have much variation throughout when it came to fish and plants.

Everyone was looking at him a bit nervously, and he easily noticed. "Is someone gonna tell me what's wrong?" he asked after his third serving was gone. "Or are you all just gonna keep looking at me like I have something disgusting on my face?"

The table sighed, and Ace's brows furrowed. Izo was the one to talk. "We've gotten word that some very powerful people are after us. After you, for killing the intruder." Ace looked baffled.

"She's the one that tried to kidnap me! What was I supposed to do? Go with her?" he asked in disbelief. Izo shook his head, but Vista was the one to speak next.

"You did what any of us would have done in the moment. They started this, knowing it would be messing with another yonko, which is pretty much an unspoken no-no. But still, the children are very angry. And one of those after you is one of the strongest and most advanced haki users known. He can see a couple seconds into the future and uses his devil fruit like a pro," the swordsman explained. Ace frowned deeper.

He sighed and said, "What do we do?" Ace wasn't stupid, he knew this could be bad.

Pops said, "Nothing we can do until they arrive. If any of them step foot on this ship, I want you to escape into the water where you have the advantage. The sea kings would help you fight them off." Ace frowned, and the table wondered why.

The fishman said, "I don't like using them like that. I don't like ordering them around like they're my underlings or something. If they want to help, they will. I don't want to force them to."

Marco took his hand and replied, "As much as we admire your kindness and benevolence, this is a life and death issue. They already helped you when you didn't ask by steering us away from the island. It's obvious they would help again if you ask. I know they're your friends, but wouldn't they regret you dying? Or being taken away? If you get caught and can't reach the ocean, it's over. You have no advantage."

Ace sighed, and nodded, knowing Marco had some very good points. He moved his arm and winced, making Marco ask what was wrong. Ace looked wary to answer, but he removed the covering over his spines on his arm to show an extremely infected spine. It was not purple with poison but green with infection. Marco was upset this had been hidden, as was most of the table.

Thatch demanded to know why Ace hadn't said anything about it, how bad it had gotten. "It got worse after drinking the alcohol. I don't know how to treat it, so I didn't want to worry anyone. Last time I looked, though, it wasn't this bad." Marco picked his arm up and looked at it closer.

"You can't keep secrets about your health or injuries, Ace," Marco said in a hard voice. Ace protested that he didn't know it had gotten this bad, just that it hurt. "We need to go see the nurses about this." Marco led Ace out of the galley, worried glances at him, and to the infirmary.

"Whiskey," he called when they walked in. Ace sat on the bed Marco directed him to, pouting like a child. "Ace's injury needs checking again." Whiskey walked over and sat on the chair next to the bed. She was not the kindest person, but got to the point as soon as possible.

She asked to see it and Ace held his arm up, relaxing his spines but not flattening them. Whiskey put some latex gloves on and handled it. Ace kept most of the pain off of his face, but Marco could tell touching it was incredibly painful. Whiskey was very gentle, but it still hurt him. Marco worried for his love.

"This has gotten very nasty very fast. I want to do some x-rays, now," she said. Ace got up and followed her without needing to be asked. Marco trailed behind as Whiskey got the machine ready. "Lay it down on the table on it's side, and then on the front." Ace did so, and pictures were taken before Ace was moved back to the bed, sitting down, still pouting. Marco would have found it cute if it weren't involved in a much more serious situation.

When the x-rays had developed, she brought them over and they looked at them. The spines were shown to be attached to muscle, not bone. She put her thumb on her chin, a move that Marco recognized that she didn't know how to treat something. "We may have to completely remove the infected spine. Ace, how have these spines developed? Have you always had them or did they grow longer as you aged?"

Ace was not happy with having it removed, but answered her questions. "I've had them as long as I can remember. They used to be soft and bendy but they grow along with my body. I don't know if it would grow back if it was completely removed," he said nervously, unconsciously bringing his arm closer to his body.

"We're not removing it yet. I want to try something first. If it doesn't work, then I'll resort to surgically removing the spine so the infection doesn't spread," Whiskey said. She left the room for a while while Ace and Marco sat quietly, the latter continuing to glance at Ace's ugly injury. He looked a bit miserable, so Marco took the hand on his arm that was not infected and intertwined their fingers. He brought them to his lips and kissed the knuckles. Ace smiled at him softly.

Whiskey came back in with a bucket full of sea water. "In your natural habitat, you would be surrounded by seawater. I want you to soak it, even while you sleep. Hopefully it will do something that the medication I prescribed didn't. I want you to come in tomorrow morning the minute you wake up," she commanded, and Ace nodded, putting his arm into the deep bucket. He carried with him his other hand, which wasn't exactly easy to do.

Marco wanted to hold his hand, but it wasn't possible like this. Ace asked to go outside, as the day was darkening after dinner had been finished, and the two went out on deck. Ace went to the railing and looked out at the endless ocean. Marco could tell he was going to speak, so he stayed quiet, leaning against the railing next to him.

"I'm sorry my presence is going to cause everyone trouble. I knew that I was rare based on that dickhead noble, but I didn't know it was this big of a deal, that so many people would be after me. And everyone on the ship is in danger because of it," Ace said quietly, his voice small and sad.

"You didn't ask for this to happen," Marco pointed out. Ace sighed.

"I know, but it's still my fault. Just being here makes it my fault. And I just made it worse by killing that woman," Ace replied, still sounding utterly dejected. Marco took his chin and turned it to face him.

He said in a very firm voice, "They intruded upon our ship, tried to steal away one of our family members. That warrants death even if it hadn't been self defense. It is ludicrous that they get upset when they started this war. They tried to _steal you._ While you were sleeping, of course we'd kill her. She's just lucky we didn't torture her." Ace winced, and Marco looked questioning at the response.

Ace looked at his spines, the ones that weren't in the bucket of sea water. "I might have tortured her. My poison got in her eyes when I stabbed them. Can you imagine how painful that would be? I mean, I'm not regretting killing her because it was brutal, just that it has gotten us in a lot of trouble. I don't want any of you to get hurt because of my presence and actions," he explained quietly, looking at the railing.

Marco frowned at him. "What, you want us to abandon you?"

"No! I'm just worried," Ace exclaimed, and Marco felt guilty for saying that. He apologized for going too far. After all, Ace _had_ been abandoned. It was wrong of him to even use that word. Of course Ace wouldn't want to be abandoned. That was a dick move.

Marco took his shoulder, since both arms were in use, and said, "Why don't we try and go to bed for tonight?" Ace nodded and walked beside Marco when they headed to bed, of course not going to sleep for at least another half hour so they could drain the poison that had built up so it didn't make a mess of the bed.

After that, Ace was situated on the bed so his arm hung off the side and into the bucket of sea water. "This… is incredibly uncomfortable," he complained quietly. Marco rolled over and kissed Ace's ear, since he was wearing the robe without his bad arm in the sleeve.

"It's probably only for tonight," he said quietly. Ace nodded, but said that fact didn't mean it was comfortable. But, he fell asleep relatively quickly even after complaining about the discomfort. Marco had one arm loosely around him as they slept.

When the sun shone through the porthole and onto Marco's face, he slowly opened his eyes and yawned. But his eyes widened when he heard the quick breathing from Ace, and smelled a terrible scent. He sat up and looked at Ace to see his arm in the now murky water, even worse than the day before. The base of the spine was swollen and yellow, and Ace was drenched in sweat.

Marco didn't waste a second before picking Ace up and running from the room, while he was still shirtless, but wearing pants, thankfully. Ace was delirious and his face was red and hot. He had a fever. When he kicked open the infirmary door, he screamed the nurse's names and set Ace down on the bed.

Tami ran out in her night clothes and asked Marco what happened, calmly but quickly as he took Ace's temperature. "I woke up and he was like this. The bucket of water his arm was on was filthy and cloudy. The wound must have been festering in the water all night." Marco was mad, Whiskey had told him to do that. And it just made him more sick.

Tami snapped her fingers in front of Ace's face. "Ace? Ace, can you hear me?" Ace blinked a couple times and then nodded, seeming more aware of his surroundings now. "How do you feel?" she asked loudly.

"Bad…" Ace said. "'Rm hurts, burns." Marco stood on the other side of the bed as Tami. Ace was out of it again and Tami had to snap to get his attention again as she touched the spine that was badly infected at the base now. She was wearing gloves. Ace screamed when she touched the base of it.

"It needs to be removed," she said. "Marco, go get Kivu." Kivu was the head surgeon, and Marco ran to where he knew his bunk room was, slamming the door open and waking everyone in the room with a start.

Marco commanded Kivu to get up and come to the infirmary. He was shirtless as well, but he'd be wearing scrubs anyway. The two ran back to the infirmary, where Tami and Whiskey were already in their equipment, sterilizing tools. Marco was, for once, irate with how lax they seemed. Ace was in pain and they looked almost bored. But of course he didn't say this.

Kivu got into his gear and they rolled Ace's bed to the surgery room, shutting the door to Marco. He waited outside the doorway, pacing back and forth with his thumb nail in his mouth as he bit on it. He was in so much distress that his phoenix powers were reacting, flames flickering along his shoulders.

It took a little less than two hours (which was much too long, in Marco's opinion) for the surgery to end, and Ace was wheeled out. Marco didn't touch him, but saw he had one less spine, the area empty but with a hole that had been sewed up.

"His skin is usually so thick, but the infection made it weak, which was good for us. The surgery was successful, and we were able to remove all the infected tissue." Whiskey went back inside the room when Marco took Ace's hand. He was knocked out, but his fever seemed to have gone down and he was no longer drenched in sweat. The head nurse came back with a tub with the removed spine soaking in it.

It was green and the base that had been removed, that had been in the interior of his skin, looked like rotted wood. It wasn't purple at all. There were some drops of blood on the tip. Marco set the tub down with a sigh, looking at the missing spine. Ace would not be breaking them off ever again. Not when this was the consequence. "Will he be okay?" Marco asked in a nervous voice.

Tami took off her scrubs and said, "The infection is neutralized and his fever has gone away. He should wake up soon, we gave him as least amount of anesthesthesia as we could." Marco sighed, glad that Ace had done well with the surgery. "Do you want us to throw out the spine?"

"Let Ace decide. Don't touch it, the poison doesn't kill but it is painful," Marco said, though the nurses and surgeon gave him a deadpanned look and all held up their gloves. "That was a stupid thing to say."

The two nurses left the room, told Marco to tell them when Ace woke, and Kivu went back to his room to sleep. Marco sat by Ace on the bed, running his fingers through Ace's soft hair. After about twenty minutes, Ace's dark eyes slowly opened. They looked around in confusion before widening and he sat up, while Marco gently pushed him back down. "You're fine. The spine got very infected overnight. It was removed," Marco explained. Ace weakly lifted his arm to see the closed hole.

Ace sighed, but wasn't upset. After all, there was no other option. "I'm never breaking a spine off ever again," he said. Marco nodded and agreed that that was a good idea. He leaned forward and kissed Ace sweetly.

"I was really worried. You were so sick this morning," he said softly. Ace frowned, and apologized. "It's not your fault, it was just scary. I'm sorry you weren't able to give consent to the surgery." Ace waved it off and slowly sat up. "You feel okay?"

Ace nodded, and swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand up. He put his hand over the wound and winced. "It's a bit sore, but nothing compared to the pain it was previously. I'll be fine. I just hope there are no complications or anything." Marco nodded in agreement and offered to have both of them go get breakfast. Ace wanted to take a shower first, so he did and Marco headed to tell Pops about the surgery, since no one knew about it yet.

Ace looked at the spine in the tub of water and cringed at it before asking that they throw it away. Marco tossed it into the ocean, and headed for Pops while Ace headed to their small bathroom to take a shower. He found Pops in his room, not at breakfast yet, and was called in when he knocked on the door. The captain looked up and must have noticed the strained and stressed look on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, closing the book he was reading. Marco nodded, because he was okay. Ace was better, though the stress of finding him in such a state that morning was slowly ebbing away, so it was still there.

"Ace's infected spine needed to be surgically removed this morning," he said, getting right to the issue. Whitebeard's eyes widened, and he asked if the fishman was alright. "Yeah, the infection was completely removed. He seems fine and there have been no complications. Sorry I didn't tell you first, but it was a pressing issue that needed to be performed in a timely manner."

Pops said he understood and was glad Ace was alright. Marco agreed. He was so happy the surgery had no complications. "Teach is coming back. We're meeting him and his group in a couple days." Marco smiled at this, having missed his other brothers who were on one of the longest missions any of them had done. Since Teach was one of the originals, even if he wasn't a commander, he was often leader of missions.

A lot had happened since they last saw them. Everything with Ace and getting trapped in the Calm Belt. "Does he know about the situation?" Pops nodded, and said Teach had taken it well and was looking forward to meeting Ace.

"He was a bit disbelieving since he didn't get the paper out on the sea, but after I explained in more detail, he was shocked but believed me. He said Ace must be pretty strong to be a sea king fishman, which is true. I'm sure they'll get along well," Pops said happily, probably having missed his sons, who were gone for quite a long time. The mission had been an important one. Even if Teach was not a commander, he was one of the originals on the crew and was trusted deeply.


	9. First Time

**Otaku_Girl2176: I hope it's not repetitive with so many of my stories having Teach in them.**

**Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you! Yeah, the suspense from both Teach and the Big Mom pirates get thicker. Especially the Big Mom kids.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: I put Ace through so much.**

**Iris Viggiano: Thank you! I hope everything with those two future enemies will be exciting. I think they are.**

**chickie434: Where would the fun be if they were all resolved easily? lol.**

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**The smut has arrived. I hope I did alright, since this is the real first malexmale smutty scene I've done. I did one long ago but it was pitiful. So I hope it's okay. Enjoy~**

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Marco left after the meeting to go find Ace and tell him about new people arriving. He was napping out on deck, on the whale figurehead. He and Namur were the only ones on the ship to be safe if they fell over the side, though Ace was a bit more as no sea kings would attack him. He sat next to him and gently moved some hair out on his face. Ace smacked his lips and turned onto his other side. Marco chuckled.

Thatch came up behind him. "Don't act so goo goo, Marco," he taunted. Marco gave him a blank stare.

"Jealousy isn't a good trait, you know? Just talk to Izo," Marco taunted right back. Thatch blushed furiously and looked around to see if anyone else had heard. Ace was still sleeping since Thatch had the decency to not be loud and wake the sleeping fishman.

Marco was the only one to really notice Thatch's recent behavior around Izo. He never commented on it. And maybe the signs had been there all the time, but Marco hadn't recognized it until he found his own love. "You better not tell anyone," Thatch threatened.

The first mate waved his hand. "I'd never do that, promise," he said truthfully. "Teach and his group are coming back in a couple days. We'll have to have a party, so start thinking of food to serve." Thatch nodded.

"But you know they'll eat whatever I serve. Hell, Ace eats everything I serve even when he has no idea what it is. Why do so many people on this crew eat like starving animals? It's ridiculous, there will always be enough food for everyone. Jeez," the chef said in slight irritation. Marco just chuckled.

"Don't badmouth my lover," he said in a joking voice.

Thatch huffed. "Stupid smitten Marco." Marco grinned. It was true, he was smitten with Ace. Completely and fully loved him. He remembered being unsure in the beginning, and now wondered how he could have ever not been positive. It had only been a few weeks, but he had fallen so in love with the sea king fishman it was ridiculous. But it was a nice feeling.

Ace woke up after Thatch had left and Marco was laying on the figurehead next to him. "Morning sunshine. Even though it's afternoon."

"Morning," Ace replied and Marco chuckled. "What's up?" he asked curiously.

"What, am I not allowed to come over for you unless it's for something?" Marco asked in mock hurt. Ace laughed. "But you're right. I came to tell you you'll be meeting some new brothers. They were away on a long mission and are almost back to the ship. We'll be having a party when they get back. The leader of them is Teach, and he's a bit strange looking. But he's a good guy, been here a long time," Marco explained.

Ace nodded, and tried to flatten his hair down. "I look forward to meeting more people. Do they know about me?" Marco nodded, and Ace then turned around and looked down over the front of the figurehead. Marco did, too, and saw two small sea kings in front of the ship, jumping out of the water and heading in the same direction they were facing. They were acting like dolphins, and it was a strange sight.

A few curious pirates saw them looking over the edge and came to see what they were doing. Even Pops came over, curious as well. He laughed at the sight while the other pirates were just surprised or in disbelief, since they'd never seen any behavior like this from sea kings. Marco almost stopped Ace from jumping over the side and getting on one of the sea kings, after he asked them of course.

He put both of his hands up in the air, and some pirates chuckled, calling him crazy even though he was in no danger. Marco wondered what that felt like. It had been so long since he was in the sea. He'd drown (stupid devil fruit consequence). After the sea kings wanted to stop, Marco went and picked Ace up, who was soaking wet.

"It's so strange seeing things like that. I'm sure we're the only crew who has ever seen sea kings act like this. And then there was the first sighting of sea king babies that you and Namur saw. It's amazing," Pops said, and Ace beamed, taking it as a compliment.

"It's too bad more people don't see them like this. Maybe then they wouldn't be hated so much," Ace replied easily. The captain chuckled, and Marco hugged Ace from behind, hands clasped loosely around his waist. A few pirates made gagging sounds, and Marco shot them glares when Ace laughed, and looked pointedly at each one who pretended to gag and crushed his lips against Marco's.

More "ugh"s and "ew"s were made before everyone had walked away. Pops laughed again, not bothered by their affections, which Marco was glad of. If Pops was disgusted with their relationship, it would have crushed him.

After dinner that night when the couple were heading to bed, Ace had other plans, and pushed Marco against the wall and kissed him, plunging his tongue into Marco's mouth, who gladly accepted the kiss and returned it with equal fervor. He ran his hands down Ace's back before he boldly rested them on his bottom, squeezing slightly.

Ace had his hands behind Marco's head and neck, barely allowing him time to breathe between the kisses. Marco pushed Ace to the bed, and he fell on it when the back of his knees hit the bed. Marco was able to pull him up onto the bed fully, and Ace wrapped his legs around his back, running his hands down his chest as the human moved his lips to Ace's jaw and neck, leaving hickeys that would no doubt be there tomorrow. He didn't care.

Ace's feet pushed on Marco's pants and sash, and Marco froze. He looked down at Ace, whose face was bright red and he was panting. "Are you sure?" Marco asked quietly. After all, Ace was trying to push Marco's pants off, so the message was pretty clear. Ace nodded, and Marco shrugged his shirt off and boldly got up to rip Ace's black shorts off. He was wearing tight boxers, and Marco saw his hard on and flushed. He hadn't had sex in a long time.

Ace pushed on Marco's pants again, and he pulled off his own and undid the loose sash. Marco straddled Ace, running his hands down his lover's soft skin, moving his fingers to his nipples and tweaking them, which had Ace breathing quicker, meaning it felt good. "C'mon, moan for me," Marco whispered, moving his mouth to the perky nipples which were on a black stripe of his skin. The lights were still on since Ace had attacked him the moment the door was closed and locked.

A moan was made, though it was small. Marco would make him moan louder, and didn't care if every commander who was in bed heard them. Ace's spines were leaking all over the sheets, and had dripped from the door to the bed. Marco hadn't noticed, too caught up in the kiss. He let go of his nipples and started to slowly pull off Ace's boxers before he took off his own.

Both of them looked at each other and blushed equally. Then Ace started laughing at both of their reactions. Marco could appreciate someone laughing in bed. It meant he was comfortable enough to do so. Ace wasn't nervous like Marco was.

Then he thought of something concerning. "Ace, how alike are you to human anatomy?" If he wouldn't feel pleasure from sex, Marco didn't want to go all the way. There was no way he'd put his own pleasure over Ace's. His face flushed and he looked away.

"I kinda did my research," Ace said awkwardly, and Marco blushed at the thought of Ace doing it to himself to make sure it would work for both of them. And the older man was so glad that they knew he would already feel pleasure. But not yet. Marco wanted to make the foreplay fun for him.

He trailed his hand down Ace's stomach and lower before he was lightly gripping Ace's arousal. Ace moaned lightly. Marco wanted him so much louder, and began rubbing his hand along the shaft gently. Ace wrapped his legs around him, and Marco moaned when it made Ace's dick brush against his own. Ace grinned, and suddenly they were flipped, Marco now on his back, feeling the warm liquid on his back that had come from Ace's spines.

Ace licked along Marco's chest and lower before he was incredibly bold and licked up Marco's dick, making eye contact the whole time. Marco had never seen anything more arousing than what he was seeing now. He moaned loudly, but didn't want to come and pulled Ace up. He wanted to last. Ace may be young but Marco was not and it would be humiliating if he needed a long break before the next part. He reached over to the drawer next to the bed and got out lube. Ace looked funny now that he knew Marco had lube in the room the whole time.

Ace draped across Marco's body as Marco's hands ventured lower, grabbing and spreading his perky butt cheeks which were usually hidden beneath his shorts since they were a bit baggy. Ace buried his face in Marco's chest from embarrassment. "Don't worry, I've done this before," Marco said, kissing his forehead as his slicked up fingers ventured lower before they got to where they needed to be, and he slowly sunk them inside Ace, adjusting him as best he could.

To be honest, Marco had never bottomed, so he didn't know what this felt like. When he added the second finger and pushed in deeper, Ace gasped and then let out a low moan. Looked like Marco found his prostate, and rubbed his fingers against it before adding a third and started to scissor slowly. He kept at least one finger on his prostate the whole time.

Once he felt Ace was stretched enough, who was drenched in sweat and poison, Marco flipped them again. Ace was completely red from his face to his chest on the white parts. "Ready?" he asked, hiding the excitement from his voice. Ace bit his lip and nodded. Marco aligned himself and slowly entered him with a groan and a couple deep breaths as Ace tightened around him, shuddering beneath the older man.

"You okay?" he asked after staying still for a good minute, even though it was incredibly hard. Ace nodded, panting heavily as Marco slowly pulled out before pushing back in completely to the hilt. Ace moaned loudly and roughly grabbed Marco's hair to ground himself. Of course it didn't hurt Marco as he thrusted in and out gently, loving the sound of Ace's now loud moans and whimpers. Marco groaned at the pleasure himself.

He leaned forward and swallowed the moans in a kiss while he slowly got faster, still paying attention to Ace's body language, if he showed any pain. Thankfully, he didn't. After hitting Ace's prostate dead on, he let out the loudest moan, throwing his head back and disconnecting the kiss. Marco kept aiming towards that spot as Ace writhed below him.

Marco was actually pretty impressed with how long both of them lasted. Marco because he hadn't had sex in awhile and Ace because this was his first time. He felt happy he was Ace's first time.

Ace came first, letting out a loud moan before tightening around Marco as he let go as well, filling Ace. It was so hot. Marco collapsed on top of him, both of them growing limp as they tried to catch their breaths. Marco pulled out and saw some of his cum drip out of Ace. He blushed but the sight was so arousing.

"You okay?" Marco asked, but then he looked up and saw Ace had fallen asleep. Marco chuckled and got a towel, cleaning both of them up. Honestly, that was the best sex he'd ever had. So much poison had leaked on the bed that he had no doubt the mattress was now stained. He hadn't expected anything different if just kissing made the poison leak out.

Marco didn't dress himself and didn't dress Ace before he pulled the covers over both of them and he fell asleep, too, arm thrown over Ace's hickey covered chest.

-x-

Ace woke the next morning to see Marco sleeping next to him. He ajusted his legs and found he was naked and just a little bit sore, and remembered that they'd had sex last night. Ace grinned, thinking he did alright. He was worried he would come too early, but he lasted. He remembered he fell asleep right after it was over, and put his hands over his face in embarrassment.

He was so happy he and Marco went all the way with no problems. He laid in bed for a while before Marco woke up to see Ace staring at him. "Last night was fun. We should do it more."

Marco grinned. "Definitely. I think we definitely both need showers," Marco replied, and Ace looked down to see he was covered in poison. "Don't apologize, we didn't expect anything else," and he kissed Ace's head. Ace found Marco was naked, too, and blushed at the sight of his naked body. It would take a bit to get used to.

The older smirked. "You're uncomfortable about seeing me naked when I was inside you last night?" he taunted, and Ace put his hands over his face. Marco chuckled. "Wanna shower with me?" Ace got up and resisted the urge to cover himself, even if he was a bit embarrassed. He looked to the side when they got in the shower, face blazing. Marco found it hilarious. And he teased him mercilessly, like when he took the soap and cleaned up the mess between his legs and cheeks.

"I really made a mess of you, huh?" Marco asked. Ace let out an unmanly squeak.

"I'm not used to it, okay? I've never been naked in front of someone else, let alone had _sex_ ," Ace grumbled. "It'll take me awhile to get used to it." Marco grinned behind him and stood up to press his body against Ace's.

"Then we'll have to practice often," he whispered in Ace's ear, licking the cusp of it and biting it gently. Ace again put his face in his hands. "You're acting like a blushing little girl. You were pretty confident last night when you seduced me. And you were confident enough to moan at the top of your lungs. Others probably heard it, so don't let their teasing get to you."

Ace was horrified that other people heard. He knew Thatch and Haruta would tease him. He hadn't even thought about it last night when he was being so noisy. He sighed, but let Marco wash him as he worried over the teasing. When they got out, Ace wrapped a towel around his waist while Marco didn't.

After both got dressed, Ace pulled the blankets and sheets off of the bed, which were still damp even hours later. The mattress was stained as well. "At least the poison doesn't smell bad," Ace said, though he was down about ruining them.

"And not brown or it'd look like we shit the bed," Marco said, and Ace burst into laughter. Marco joined in, and they both took the sheets to the laundry room. They dumped it in the corner away from other piles of dirty laundry, and taped a piece of paper to it saying gloves would need to be worn to wash them.

They headed to the galley, holding hands. Marco had been gentle and thorough with the preparation, so Ace wasn't in much noticeable pain in his lower regions. When they entered the galley, they got their food and headed to their table. Ace kept his eyes down, but heard the giggling from Thatch and Haruta.

"Have fun last night?" Haruta teased.

"Yes, we did. Thanks for asking," Marco said cooly.

"Well I would hope so, from all the noise you made," Thatch said with a shit-eating grin. Ace glared at him, his face bright red. Thatch pointed to his own shoulder, where Ace noticed a big and pink hickey on his own. He narrowed his eyes at the chef, who just laughed.

Marco sipped his water peacefully. "You know you're just jealous. You can't get anything without having to pay for it," he said calmly. Thatch grew angry, glaring at him. Ace started laughing, as did some of the commanders.

"That's not true!" Thatch shouted. The galley was always loud, so his voice didn't bring everyone's attention. Marco raised his eyebrows, as if asking, "Oh, really?"

Pops arrived during the bickering between the first and fourth division commanders. Ace was glad he didn't bring the topic up that the younger commanders were talking about. Mainly those closest to Ace or Marco. It would have been weird to have their father comment on Marco and Ace's sex lives. It would no doubt be awkward for everyone. Nobody wants their father talking about sex with them. At least, that's what Marco told him.

The teasing lasted throughout the day, but it didn't spread from any of the commanders, which Ace was so glad for. He didn't want ship-wide teasing or disapproval. He knew some would find it wrong for Ace, half fishman, and Marco, full human, to have sex. Ace had the basic anatomy of a human, he wasn't like Namur or any of the fishmen he'd met at their capital. But if neither of them had any problem with it, then no one else's mattered.

Another topic other than his sex life was buzzing around the ship. Teach and his group were arriving that day, sometime soon. Everyone was excited and Ace was looking forward to meeting somebody that everyone seemed to like. He had gotten his fair share of warning with Teach's looks. Ace didn't think he'd care much. Especially after seeing all the different types of fishmen. As long as he didn't reek, he didn't care much about his looks.

Ace was sitting on the figurehead in Marco's lap, whose arms were rubbing circles against Ace's bare chest, while humming quietly when the small boat came into view. Ace pointed it out, and Marco got up to go and tell the others while Ace remained on the figurehead. It was too far away for him to see them, but it had to be Whitebeard pirates. No one was dumb enough to sail a tiny ship against the yonko. He wondered if they had a hard time with storms in that ship. Ace had gotten used to them, like his brothers had said he would.

He stood up when he saw the pirates look down into the water and start screaming. Ace jumped in with a splash, and looked at the small sea kings. "Please don't attack them. They're on my crew," he asked.

"Okay, sorry," the smaller of the two said, seeming bashful. Ace thanked them as they swam away. He popped his head out of the water and said, "They're gone, don't worry." He pushed his hair out of his face with a grin. "I'm Ace."

Then he heard "Ze-hahaha! I think we all got that." Ace's spines raised up until they were all pointing straight backwards and he had chills go up his body. "My name is Teach, nice to meet'cha." Ace nodded in agreement, but dipped back under the water where they couldn't see his reaction.

He'd never gotten chills like that, and all of his instincts were in fight or flight mode. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down, before swimming to the other side of the ship and popping his head back out, shouting for Marco to come and get him. He was proud his voice didn't wobble. Marco flew over the side and picked him up. He didn't seem to care anymore that Ace got his clothes soaked constantly. When Teach got on deck, Ace made sure his back was facing off the ship so no one saw the spines raise again. It had never happened before, not even with the bad guys on Fishman Island.

To say it unnerved Ace was an understatement, and he left before he was going to be directly introduced to Teach. He sat on their bed in the dark, head in his hands. A human could physically hide their discomfort, but much like the poison, Ace couldn't control some parts of his body. It would be incredibly obvious, since his spines were pretty long when not flat.

Marco came in awhile after Ace had isolated himself. Ace didn't look at him, keeping his head in his hands. Marco locked the door and sat next to him. "Are you okay?" he asked in quiet concern. Ace nodded, though it was too quickly to not be suspicious. "What's wrong? It is about the teasing about last night?"

Ace debated lying, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to Marco. But he was also scared Marco would side with his long-time brother against Ace. The fishman didn't want to come across as a jerk, not liking Marco's family member. But it was so much more than not liking him. Ace felt feelings he'd never felt before. He'd never been so uncomfortable and even scared. He inwardly scoffed at himself.

He was friends with sea kings, yet this out of shape human scared him. "No, it's not anything anyone else did," he said.

"Than what's wrong? Is it about the new guys? I know Teach isn't the be-..." Marco trailed off when the name caused all of Ace's spines to stand straight up perpendicular to his back and digging into his thighs beneath his arms. Ace didn't look up, afraid of Marco's reaction, since he didn't say anything.

But Marco moved in front of Ace, kneeling next to the bed to force eye contact with his lover. "Does he make you uncomfortable? Please be honest. I won't be mad," Marco assured. So Ace nodded.

"I got chills all over when we made eye contact and it was even worse when he spoke. I was in flight or fight mode, so I left and swam to the other side of the ship. Everyone will hate me," Ace said in a small voice. Marco cupped his cheeks and lifted his face.

"I trust your judgement, even if I don't understand it," he said seriously. "If he makes you uncomfortable, then avoid him. It's a big ship with lots of crowds to slip away into. Lots of rooms to hide in if he is walking your way in the hallways." Ace looked at him in shock. "Don't look so surprised. I love you, Ace. Of course I'll do what I can to make you comfortable. I'm not in a position to do anything with him, that's up to Pops, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable all the time."

Ace's lower lip wobbled. "I'm sorry." Marco brought him into a hug and smoothed down the spines which were still slightly up.

He kissed Ace's forehead. "There's nothing to apologize for. You can't control this, just like you can't control the poison. We've remedied that a bit with draining them. We'll find a solution to this problem, too. Don't worry." Ace nodded, and noticed how Marco hadn't said Teach's name once after the visceral reaction his body made. Ace nodded against Marco's shoulder. "I'll do what I can to help."

Since there was a party that night to welcome back the long-absent crew members, Ace was easily lost in the crowd, even if he stuck out like a sore thumb. Easily lost because everyone was distracted with drinking with their closest brothers. Ace was sitting with Thatch and Izo while Marco was talking with those who had just returned.

Thatch was a loud drunk, that much was certain, while Ace mostly turned into a helpless, giggling mess that Marco and the others he was closer to could not stop laughing about it. They didn't laugh when he openly groped Marco, though. Well, the blonde did. Just not their brothers.

But Ace wasn't in the real mood to get too drunk. He just wanted to go to bed, he was tired. Tired and disappointed in himself. But he hid most of the mopey-ness from his brothers, and did it well.

They didn't mention Teach, and Ace was glad. He was glad the man wasn't a commander, or he'd see him all the time. Plus, he wasn't in the same division. He was in Namur's, not the empty second division's one. Ace honestly wondered why they had gone so long without a commander for that division. Was it not a pressing matter? So he asked Izo, who was a graceful drunk who never showed any signs that he was intoxicated. He was also one of the only members on the crew to exclusively drink wine. The amount of wine the man had to himself was incredible.

"Filling a commander's seat is a big thing. We can't just throw someone into that position. They have to be a mix or have a delicate balance of traits and skills." Ace looked interested, so Izo continued. "First of all, you need to be strong. That much is certain. Strong and confident to lead your division, be the one in charge and not bow under pressure. While some of the commanders lack some of the next trait, it's also important. You have to be likable. Your division has to respect you, and trust you.

"It would be hard for any pirates to respect and trust you when you're a complete asshole to them. Patience is also a helpful trait. You have many responsibilities, and you can't shrug any of them off. Marco probably has the best balance with work and social life. He gets everything done on time and yet still can socialize and do what he wishes," Izo said.

Thatch hiccuped, and said, "You mean do _who_ he wishes. Acey boy is a man now! Ahahaha!" Thatch shouted and then finally passed out. Izo scoffed and Ace was blushing.

" _Anyways,_ you need to be many things to be a commander. Marco is the only one who has broken one major rule and gotten away with it. Being romantic partners with someone who is not another commander. If it were anyone but Marco, Pops may not have allowed it. But we know Marco won't abuse his position of power, and rarely interferes with your own duties." Izo then gave him a fond look. "You make Marco really happy, Ace. Thank you." Ace blushed again, but smiled a small smile.

The smile became forced when Teach's laughter rang across the deck. No one but Izo noticed the spines rising, but didn't make the connection. "What's with your spines?"

"I'm cold. That happens when I get cold sometimes," Ace lied easily. After all, the hair on humans stood up when they were cold. Ace couldn't have goosebumps since he had no body hair besides what was on his head, but it seemed like it could be true.

Izo hummed and finished his glass of wine only to fill it once again from the bottle. Ace found it funny that he didn't just drink from the bottle but had a fancy wine glass. Ace preferred straight sake, which he knew many thought was just disgusting. Way too strong for their tastes, but Ace liked the burn in his throat when he drank it.

Eventually, Ace called it a night and headed inside, head a little bit fuzzy but not so much it impared him, and he skipped draining the spines that night, just wanting to go to bed. He put a big towel down under him. They were using blankets as sheets since theirs hadn't been washed yet.

He fell asleep by himself for the first time in awhile. He hoped Marco wouldn't be mad, but Ace was tired and didn't want to cut Marco's celebration short.


	10. Suspicion

**Maldea: Thank you! That makes me so happy!**

**haso12123: Thanks!**

**Iris Viggiano: Lol thank you. I've posted one smut story years ago and it was horrid. I'm glad I didn't get any comments that it was bad. I kinda don't like smut stories that are hardcore with no sort of romance of anything, especially for the first time. I'm rambling. But I'm glad you liked it. Ace is indeed a man now.**

**Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you! Teach is always a problem. I hate him. I want him to die in a humiliating way in cannon. If Oda killed Ace and Whitebeard like he did, then he better do the same to Teach!**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Poor Ace indeed. :(**

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Marco found himself observing Teach closely. He'd watch him out of the corner of his eye out on deck when Ace was napping or had a sleep attack. And he couldn't find anything off about him other than his unsavory appearance. He just couldn't see what had Ace so frightened. And it frustrated him.

He did not take sides, but he did help Ace out when he could. No one knew why his spines rose before Ace started lying and saying it was from when he was cold, even though it happened inside, too. And the Whitebeard's adjusted easily to this. It was already being a little daring to go anywhere near Ace's spines, even when they were flat, so he always had a foot of space behind him and next to him where the spines wouldn't puncture anyone if they suddenly raised.

It really upset Marco, not that he showed it, with just how visceral Ace's body's reaction was to Teach, who Marco and everyone else thought was a genuinely nice guy. But he knew Ace might have better instincts from his sea king side. Not just his sense of smell, but he had animal instincts, which were not biased on appearances. Ace was truly afraid of Teach and it made him sad. No one else knew about the problem, didn't know what to look for. After all, it was the same for them. No one mistrusted Teach, one of the "originals".

Marco had had more than one private talk with another commander about wishing Ace would be appointed the seat as the second division commander, but that wish was up in smoke with Teach being in that division. And Marco would never want Ace to take that position and always be uncomfortable, having to see Teach more often than he did already.

Ace was more subdued since Teach came back, and Marco knew he felt guilt for his reaction to a seemingly good guy. But it wasn't like Ace got to know him and just didn't like him. He reacted badly the moment he came face to face with him. It wasn't biased in any way, shape or form. _Something_ about Teach raised red flags for Ace, and Marco wished he understood _why?_

All of this and the time seemed to have caused the problems about Ace and the world to fade a bit, for when the paper came, Marco felt like he'd been hit with a ship. The children of Big Mom, who had been sent to steal or kill Ace, had made a move. They'd not attacked one of the Whitebeard islands, but was holding it hostage. They wouldn't leave unless the Whitebeards went.

Marco hurried to Pops and gave him the paper. His eyes flared with anger that they would hurt one of the islands and hold it ransom for Ace to come. "We're not giving them Ace, but we have to go and protect the island from them." Marco nodded, knowing that was what they had to do, but he was scared for Ace's safety.

Would this turn into a war between two yonko? It had never happened before, but the Big Mom pirates had started it. They may have many strong members, but they did not have many subordinate crews or allies. Not that would risk a war with Whitebeard. But they knew _their_ allies would stand and fight with them. That island might become a battlefield.

Marco didn't want to fight Katakuri, or have any of his family fight him. He was strong, too strong for most of them to handle. No matter how good the commanders were with haki, there was no one more skilled in observation than Katakuri. At least, that the world knew of. His bounty was higher than Ace's inflated one.

But, they had numbers on their side. They had over 40 subordinate captains under them. And Marco knew they'd come to help. They'd never met Ace before, but they knew that it was a Whitebeard, and all of them were good people.

Teach's face flashed through his thoughts. But he didn't know if there was actually something wrong with him or not. He pushed the thought from his mind when Pops spoke. "This will attract marines, too. Everyone wants Ace," he said grimly. Marco bit lis lip in worry. He just wanted Ace to be happy and safe. Well, as safe as a pirate could be. "Preferably, we would have faced them on the ship so Ace could evacuate into the water. Brightside is our ship won't be destroyed in the fight. We all know this will end in a fight one way or another."

Marco said, "We just won't have Ace step foot on the island, then." He would choose Ace over an island any day, no matter if it was under their protection. Ace was first. Said fishman came out on deck from his nap and looked around before visibly relaxing, no doubt checking if Teach was out. Marco saw Whitebeard just slightly narrow his eyes at the behavior.

He knew something was up with Ace. But he said nothing since he was heading over. But he noticed the tense atmosphere. "What's wrong?" he asked in a worried voice. Marco didn't lie. They both promised they wouldn't lie to each other unless it was something confidential, in which they would say so.

"Big Mom pirates are holding one of our islands hostage unless we go. Marines probably will come as well," Marco explained. Ace asked in a small voice if it was because of him. "Yeah, most likely. Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you. You'll just stay in the water and attack from there."

Ace frowned, and Marco stopped him from apologizing before he could say it. "There's nothing to apologize for, baby," Marco said. He mostly said baby when it was for comforting Ace if he was upset about something.

Pops said, "We should tell the commanders." Marco nodded, and Ace was invited to attend as well. They gathered the commanders for a meeting, and Ace once again sat in the second division seat. Marco so wished he would occupy that seat permanently. Maybe someday, but not anytime soon. They were all sitting, wondering what caused the impromptu meeting, many worried.

"There is news on the actions of that Big Mom pirates. They've landed on one of our islands and are holding it hostage until we get there. They want Ace," Pops explained, like always getting to the point. He table erupted into anger at them taking one of their islands and also thinking they'd just hand over Ace, their brother. "We will not give them Ace. I cannot promise the island will not become a battlefield. The marines will likely arrive as well. Everyone wants him, but no one is getting him.

"Ace, I know you would like to fight, too, but you need to stay safe in the water. You have probably the most important role in the fight. Those fighting Katakuri are important, but I want you to have sea kings destroy every ship but our own. Can you do that?" Whitebeard asked. Marco knew Ace could and would do it, so he wasn't the least bit surprised when he nodded.

"Should be easy," he said simply, though he was wearing a deep frown.

Thatch spoke next. "Don't worry, Ace. No one is gonna get you, and we're strong! The commanders can take on another yonko crew, though I am worried about who ever is fighting Katakuri." The commandes nodded in agreement.

Whitebeard said, "I was thinking our two strongest fighters should do it. Marco and Jozu. One from below and one from above. Plus, haki can't even break diamond. It will be a hard fight, but we'll all do our best, obviously. We have many more allies than they do, and they will come to help us," the captain added.

Marco spoke next. "We have to contact them as soon as possible. I feel like we will have the upper hand with Ace keeping any ships of their own allies and the marines destroyed. We know you don't like using the sea kings like that, but you'll have to this time." Ace nodded, that he understood and would cooperate.

"I don't like that I can't help fight on land. Will there be any fishmen from the marines or pirates?" he asked in a sad voice. Marco felt for him. He was stronger in the water, but this fight would be on land. The enemy pirates weren't stupid. Well, not stretegically stupid. They knew Ace would beat them if they were on the ship. But it was stupid to take one of their protected island and use it as a hostage negotiation that would fail miserably.

Haruta said, "There are no high ranking marines who are fishmen. Besides, they'd be useless against you. Your skin is too thick for bullets or knife wounds, and haki doesn't matter since you aren't a devil fruit user."

Haruta was the head of the intelligence division, so he knew most about marines and other pirates that could be their enemies. Though, everyone knew about the Big Mom pirates. Even those who weren't pirates. Ace looked sad. "I was able to have surgery with my infected spine, so I'm not always so tough, apparently. What if I get sick and I'm totally weak and vulnerable?"

Thatch smiled at him and said, "Enemies don't exactly invade the ship and know how to get to the infirmary or your bedroom if you were sick. Besides, your arm was so infected because it was so long before it was treated." The other commanders agreed and nodded. Ace pursed his lips, but didn't reply.

Marco grew nervous when Pops asked a question that Ace might not react well to. "Ace, what would you think of becoming the second division commander? I know several of the commanders think you'd fit in the position."

Ace was very surprised, eyebrows raising. He was about to answer before Marco, quite obviously, leaned over and whispered, " _He_ is in the second division. You'd need to see him more." No one else heard, though they were all confused and suspicious.

Ace suddenly went from at ease and surprised, to nervous and jumpy. "I don't know. Um, maybe someday, but not soon," he said quickly. Thatch and Haruta glared at Marco, like he'd just told him to say no and reject the offer. Before a fight started, Pops said, "That's fine. That seat has been empty for a very long time, it can stay empty until you decide."

The first mate did feel Pops' stare on him. It had been very suspicious, but necessary. Ace would have felt guilty about accepting and then having to back out of it due to Teach. He held in a glare. He couldn't help it, he was starting to side with Ace, questioning one of his long time brothers. He did feel guilt for it, but no matter how many times he thought to himself that Teach was a good guy, he just couldn't ignore Ace's concerns. He couldn't belittle them, or think that he was overreacting.

After all, Ace had been around some bad guys back at Fishman Island. But none of them had freaked him out like how Teach had. Ace was almost stupidly brave sometimes, so him being terrified by Teach when the man had done nothing suspicious from the start was concerning. And Marco couldn't brush it off. He just couldn't. He knew he chose Ace over his brother. He felt like he'd betray someone either way.

Marco was about to leave, getting glares from multiple commanders before Pops requested he and Ace stay. Marco winced, knowing Ace would have to tell the truth. Pops would know if Ace was lying, and he wasn't stupid enough to try.

Ace sat very stiffly in the chair, looking at the table in front of him while Marco made eye contact with Whitebeard. "I've noticed a change in your behavior, Ace. Please tell me why, and I want to know what Marco told you a few moments ago."

The phoenix was surprised that Pops was demanding to know what Marco said. It could be seen as a breach of privacy, which was important on the ship. With there being so many people, privacy was hard to get but was advocated for as much as possible.

Ace pursed his lips and glanced at Marco, clearly wanting him to speak. So he did, after sighing. "Ace if afraid of… of Teach," Marco said, not wanting to say the name but there was no getting around it, and he was not surprised when all of Ace's spines rose rapidly, the ones on his arms scratching the wood of the table, showing just how sharp they were.

Pops was understandably surprised. "Why? Has he done something?" he asked, voice colored with concern. Ace blushed and shook his head. Now the captain was confused.

Ace spoke before Marco could do so for him. "The moment I saw him all of my instincts told me to either fight or run. So I ran, swam away as fast as possible. Just… something about him is bad to me. I don't know why. Everytime I hear his name, I get horrible chills everywhere. I get sweaty and tense and twitchy. And my spines raise like this. It's not from being cold, I was lying to everyone," Ace explained thoroughly.

"I know his appearance is unsavory, but I don't understand what about him makes you fear him." Marco worried that Ace felt Pops was brushing aside his feelings, and his face started to grow red and he wouldn't make eye contact with either human in the room. Ace just shrugged. He had no valid reason, which made his concerns seem flimsy. Marco hated that.

"Have you ever felt this way about someone before?"

Ace shook his head. "Not even from the noble guy that kept in a tank. Or the bad fishmen back at Fishman Island. I have no explanation."

He sounded so ashamed, and Marco couldn't help but look frustrated with Pops. Ace didn't want to say anything about it for this reason. That anyone would just brush his fears under the rug as important or unjustified. "I'm going to bed," Ace said, pushing his chair back from the table. Neither of them pointed out that dinner hadn't even been served yet.

Marco got up to follow him without a word to Pops. He hadn't ever been truly angry at his father, but for once he was. The phoenix caught up with Ace and they walked quickly to their room, where he promptly started sobbing.

The older hugged him and led him to the bed. "I'm so stupid, and weak!" he lamented. "Pops doesn't even believe me. Of course he doesn't, I've only been here for a couple months. Of course he doesn't even care," Ace said through his tears. Marco looked so regretful. So guilty that he brought attention to them, to Ace's response.

He brought Ace into his arms, who cried against his chest. "You're not stupid and are not weak. And Pops cares, he just doesn't _understand._ Everyone is biased by knowing him for so long. And we can't get anyone to change their opinion other than Teach doing something bad. If he _is_ rotten, then he's been that way the whole time and no one has seen it." He rubbed Ace's back, around the spines and then brushed down on them like you would pet a cat. Ace's cries got quieter and quieter until they were just noisey sniffles.

"No one will believe me. I hope he doesn't tell anyone, I don't want people to hate me or- or think I'm weak or stupid. I didn't ask to feel this way. But I can't even go up to him to try and dispel my worries or fear. Hell, I passed him in the hallway and had to hide in the room closest, fucking beathing like I'd been running for hours. He scares me so bad, Marco, and I _hate_ it," Ace explained in a low voice that grew angrier and angrier until he spat out the last part.

He suddenly stood up and declared that he needed to go on a swim. Marco followed, and Ace didn't say a word before he jumped off of the side of the ship with a small splash. Marco sighed, putting his hand to his face. He was so angry. Angry that Teach set him off like this, and angry at Pops for how he handled it. Exactly the way it went was how Ace was afraid it would go.

He felt the presence approach from behind, of course knowing it was Pops. "I handled that very poorly," he said, looking out at the horizon. The weather was nice today, though a distraction for Ace might have been helpful. Maybe a weak pirate raid that Ace could take his frustration out on someone or something.

Marco said nothing at first, but nodded. "You reacted how he feared. Brushing his concerns under the rug. Acting like he was wrong to feel that way when he can't do anything about it," he said it in a flat voice. The voice he often used, though now it sounded cold and distant.

Whitebeard sighed, and Marco snuck a glance, seeing he had a truly regretful look on. "How do I fix it?" he asked.

Marco honestly didn't know if he could. Ace would forgive Pops, but he probably had been turned off ever telling anyone else again, if _Pops_ brushed it under the rug. Until he could prove any wrongdoing, Ace would not tell another soul about his feelings on the matter. "I'm not sure you can take back your reaction. You could apologize, but I think Ace won't discuss it anymore. He said everything, anyway."

Whitebeard sighed, as he knew Marco was right. It was a good 20 minutes of uncomfortable silence before Ace popped his head out of the water. "Marco!" he called, and like usual, Marco flew down to pick him up and bring him back up. The second he saw Pops there, his face got closed off, erasing all emotion from it.

"I'm sorry for my reaction, Ace. I'm just surprised is all. I didn't expect to hear that," Whitebeard said sincerely. Marco wasn't surprised that it didn't reach Ace's heart.

"Okay, it's fine," he said, trying to get off the topic and leave. Pops put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"It's not fine. It was cruel of me to act as if I don't believe in your concerns. I will keep an eye on it," the captain vowed. Marco wasn't sure if Ace believed it, for he only nodded and then walked away. Marco followed, holding hands. They didn't look back, though they heard the captain sit back in his chair.

Marco asked him if he still wanted to go to bed. "I can bring dinner to the room. The conversation at the table tonight will probably be about our interaction in the meeting, and I don't think that's a good thing to have happen right now." Ace nodded.

"Thank you," the fishman said, and hugged Marco, putting his head over Marco's chest. "You believe me?" he asked quietly, needing reassurance after the negative reaction. Pops had not been cruel or gotten angry about Ace not liking one of his sons. But it was negative nonetheless.

"I believe you. I trust you and your instincts. I'm keeping a close eye on Teach, I promise. I can't help it," Marco replied, hands stroking Ace's soft hair. Ace nodded and backed away before going to sit on the bed. Marco left and closed the door quietly. He headed to the kitchen. It wasn't dinner time, but it was getting near it. Marco didn't particularly want to get in a conversation with his fellow commanders about what happened after the meeting ended.

Thatch was cooking, which was no surprise to Marco. "I need dinner for Ace," he said bluntly. Thatch frowned, but nodded and got to work making Ace's favorite meal.

"Is he okay? Does he feel sick?" Thatch asked in concern. Marco didn't want to tell him that Ace was sick, for he'd worry and constantly try and check up on him. The chef had a soft spot for Ace.

So Marco answered, "The meeting didn't go well. He just wants to call it a night today." Thatch nodded, and to his credit, did not ask for any details. He must have seen the tired look on Marco's face. He gave Marco a bin of cooked rice with tons of chicken breasts set on top. It was a huge serving, but it was so Ace didn't have to go back to the galley for seconds.

Marco was given a sandwich with his favorite toppings. "Tell him I hope he feels better soon," Thatch said sincerely. He was good about caring more about a brother's health and wellbeing over being nosey or doing pranks.

When the phoenix zoan got back to the room, Ace was at the desk, trying to read a book off of Marco's bookshelf. "Baby, I have food." Ace closed the book gently and headed to the bed where Marco sat down. They both started to eat in silence, though it wasn't awkward when it was just the two of them. "Thatch says he hopes you feel better soon. He knows you're sad, but didn't pry. I give him credit for that." Ace nodded, a small smile forming on his face.

He ate slowly, which was odd and fairly concerning for Marco. Ace usually ate like he hadn't in weeks. After dinner, Marco brought the container and silverware back to the kitchen, going through the second entrance that was straight into the kitchen and not the galley to bypass his brothers.

When he got back to the bedroom, Ace was looking very tired. "Ace, we should work on the spines before bed. We didn't do it last night when we should have," Marco said. Ace nodded and they went into the shower. Ace kept his shorts on, even if Marco would appreciate a different sight.

Ace collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep, in his sleep shorts and one of Marco's baggier T- shirts. Ace wasn't much smaller than Marco in muscle wise, but he was shorter. He curled up under the blankets and drifted to sleep. Marco hoped he'd feel better tomorrow.


	11. Fear Justified

**Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you! Some satisfyingness (I thought it was a word but it's not?) in this chapter, I think.**

**Iris Viggiano: Poor baby Ace all the time with me. At least Marco believes him. It would be even worse if he didn't believe Ace. But much of the Teach issue will be addressed in this chapter.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thanks.**

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**Some brief sexy times in this one, and much drama. Enjoy~**

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Ace wandered around the ship, trying to find _him._ He couldn't let his fear ruin everything. His unjustified and ridiculous fear. He looked everywhere before he reached the back deck and found the man talking with Kingdew. One of the commanders that Ace didn't know too well. He wished it was someone else. One of his more favorable commanders. Like Thatch, Namur or Haruta.

He took a deep breath, and stepped forward, walking towards Teach, until he laughed. Ace's spines stuck straight up, but he bit his tongue hard enough for it to bleed, badly. It trailed over his lower lip. He didn't notice, he was going to do it! He was going to say "hello" and then leave!

He froze when Teach looked over at him, and poison started to pour out of every spine, all over the deck. A huge puddle of poison. "Ace! Oh my god, are you okay?" Thatch shouted from behind. Ace was shaking and didn't respond. Thatch got in front of him, and grabbed both of his cheeks, trying to get his attention. The chef gently touched the blood on Ace's lip. "What's wrong?"

Ace was shaking as Teach came closer, every inch of him shouting to run away, flee. But Thatch commanded Teach to go get Marco, and he was then out of sight. "Ace, buddy, what happened?" he asked in deep concern.

Marco ran over and looked at the mess of Ace's skin, covered everywhere in purple poison besides his chest. "Ace, baby? Are you okay?" he asked in worry, wiping away the left over blood.

"I tried. I couldn't do it," Ace said, finally coming back to reality instead of the crushing fear he felt. Marco hugged him, and got Ace back on focus by having both of them mop up the poison. Teach did not come during that time, and Ace had stopped leaking. The only thing he could compare that to was pissing his pants. Luckily that didn't happen as well. Would have been exponentially more humiliating.

Marco shooed away onlookers as he and Ace mopped the deck and then dried it with towels. After it looked clean enough, Ace went to get alcohol and pour it over the area. It shouldn't harm anyone now. Ace wiped away the sweat on his forehead since it was hot outside, and Marco took his hand, dragging him a bit before Ace kept up pace with him.

When they reached their room so Ace could shower off all of the poison soaking his back. The towel that had been brought out was not thorough in cleaning everywhere. In the shower, Marco helped Ace wash off the poison. Once most of it was done, Ace knew Marco would ask what happened. Ace didn't want to talk about it right now, he wanted to forget it happened. He thought he knew a good way to do so, and swiftly turned around to attack Marco's lips, pressing him against the shower wall.

Marco didn't respond for a few seconds, before he gave in and kissed him back. His hands slipped downwards until they were both groping Ace's ass. Ace gasped into the kiss but Marco didn't let him stop for long before their lips were attached again. Marco slid his hands lower until his fingers pressed against Ace's entrance before his hands moved away to grip Ace's erect dick. Marco was hard, too, but was focusing on Ace. No doubt he knew Ace wanted a way to feel better, and Marco was giving it to him.

Ace gasped at the feel and then moaned, lips against Marco's jaw. Ace trembled, but didn't come since Marco moved his hand away before that. He instead reached for the linen closet next to the shower and grabbed a bottle of lotion. "It's thicker than the lube, it'll hold together better in the water," he said, and quickly and gently sunk his first finger in.

It felt weird, Ace would admit, but he knew the weird feeling would turn to immense pleasure, so he dealt with the discomfort of the stretching before the good stuff started. More fingers were added as Marco bit spots on Ace's neck, grazing his teeth over his skin.

After teasing Ace's prostate in an almost cruel way, Marco gently turned Ace around. "Ready?" he asked, and Ace nodded. He moaned when Marco slid into him easily, smoothly. Ace gasped and braced his hands against the shower wall while he got used to it. Marco was good at waiting and staying still for him. Ace appreciated it very much.

"Y-you can mo-move," Ace stuttered, and Marco started slowly pulling out almost all the way before thrusting back inside fully. This way felt different than when they had sex in bed. At least his poison wasn't ruining the sheets, and was just washing down the drain easily. After too long of a steady pace, Ace told him to go faster. Marco obliged, and it didn't take long for Ace to come, making a small shout with it after Marco did a few seconds later.

They were both panting, their sweat being washed away as it formed. Marco breathed heavily into Ace's shoulder as he had become pressed against the wall when Marco picked up speed like he'd asked. Ace's face burned when Marco reached down to stretch him open a bit and watch all of his cum dribble out. "That's really hot," he commented.

"Do-don't look there," Ace said in embarrassment. He was surprised when Marco turned him around and gave him a big hug.

"I love you," he said into Ace's neck.

"I love you, too."

They cleaned up _again_ and got out of the shower. Ace was much less embarrassed about being seen naked than last time. Marco made it so it was no big deal. He didn't stare at him or make lewd comments. It made Ace more comfortable, knowing Marco treated it as totally normal now. Maybe it was, now that they'd been intimate more than once.

They both got dressed, but Marco still didn't ask about what happened on deck. Instead they both went to the bed and laid down, Ace in Marco's arms, chest to chest while Marco's fingers slid up and down one of his spines. They'd found out that stroking them relaxed them further, making them completely flat, like they were made of fabric.

Ace was the one to bring it up. "I tried to go talk to Teach. It didn't go well," he said simply. Marco didn't sigh, or groan like Ace had made a mistake trying. Ace was glad he didn't make him feel like an idiot.

"How come?" he asked.

"I don't want it to affect me so bad. I felt like I was gonna be sick. Then I made a mess everywhere," Ace replied. Marco kissed his forehead.

He said, "That was very brave. Were you trying to prove it to yourself, or Pops?" Ace knew he'd know the real reason he did it. Well, both were true, but Ace wanted to do it as soon as possible for Pops to not dislike him.

"Both," Ace answered honestly. He was quiet for a bit before asking, "When will we get to the island where we have to fight?"

Marco responded, "Two weeks. That island will live in fear for a bit. Hopefully they don't get caught in the battle too badly. Pops has called our allies for help, and we have thirteen ships who are in the area who can make it to us by then. That will help us a lot. They can fight off marines if that's necessary." Ace nodded, but he was nervous. He didn't want anyone to die because of him, but he also wouldn't turn himself in to anybody to stop the fight.

It would spit in the face of his loved ones and be a danger to many people if they were able to get him to use his power to persuade sea kings for bad things. He really wondered if he was the only sea king fishman to exist, and why he did. No one understood it. But it had taken this long to find him in the Calm Belt, where plenty of sea king fishmen could be. No one goes there purposely unless you have a specialized ship. So he might not be the only one.

But no one knew, and Ace had never come across other fishmen while in the Calm Belt, and none of the sea kings had ever told him about any other fishman friend they had.

Ace did go to bed very early that night, just wanting to start a new day. He wouldn't be trying to approach Teach again. Not when his reaction was so bad and pathetic. There would no doubt be questions about what had happened the next day, but he didn't know what he would answer to them.

He'd basically pissed himself in his own special way, and being cold wouldn't do that. Thatch had been the one to see what happened in full. He might be suspicious about the connection between Ace and Teach, who he'd been staring at. Should he tell Thatch? Maybe he'd be understanding, like Marco was. Or maybe he'd brush him off like Pops had. He didn't know what to do. He was feeling a cocktail mixture of stress and fear coming from both Teach, but also greatly about the battle fought over him.

He was so glad they'd had allies, who swore to help protect Ace even if they'd never met before. The only Whitebeard ally he'd met had been Jinbei, and he didn't like Ace much. Though he was much more suspicious, and the information regarding Ace had come out weeks ago. Everyone knew.

The next day, Ace went to breakfast, and felt eyes on him everywhere before Marco gave pointed glares. Conversation began again like it hadn't been interrupted. Ace and Marco got their food and sat down where they usually sat. Marco was on Ace's left while Izo was to the right, though with a foot of space between them in case Ace's spines suddenly rose.

"Ace, are you okay?" Thatch asked in concern. Ace nodded. "What happened? You exploded!"

Apparently everyone of the commanders had heard the story as no one was surprised that Thatch said Ace had "exploded". More like erupted. "I got sick," Ace said simply. "I didn't feel good."

Izo raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing Ace's answer, but said nothing. Thatch asked if he was still sick, but Ace shook his head. He was feeling better as long as Teach stayed away from him. "That's a weird way to get sick. Good thing you mopped it up soon!"

Ace nodded, and Marco commented that the poison was nearly harmless unless it got into your bloodstream. After all, it had gotten on Thatch and only a small stinging burn came from it. "Still, it was scary to go near that area again," Haruta said. "Does this mean you've been sick for awhile? Cause your spines keep rising lately."

Ace looked to Marco for help, who had the answer. Always had the answer. "We thought that the spines raised lately due to temperature, but we're not sure about that anymore. There's no constant reaction to temperature to blame that anymore."

"So in other words no one knows?" Vista asked, and Ace and Marco nodded. Ace was glad Marco was smart and a quick thinker. Ace wouldn't have come up with a convincing lie like that. He didn't want to admit it was fear at all. He didn't want to seem weak, even if Pops now thought he was.

He could understand why no one wanted him to fight on land, but he started to have doubts and that it was because Pops thought he was physically weak and all he could do was have other sea kings do the work for him. He moped, visibly deflating. Marco noticed, of course, and rubbed his back gently to the left of his spines. Ace leaned against him. The other commanders were all in conversations, so they didn't notice the already quiet Ace grow sad.

Well, Pops did, but Ace didn't see that. So when he left the galley, the captain followed, but Ace jumped into the water for a swim before he was able to say anything. Ace hadn't known he was following. He swam alongside the slow moving ship, and clicked his tongue to call out for any nearby sea kings.

A _huge_ one started coming over, being much larger than the ship. It swam up to him from deep below and he put his hand out to touch its head, never fearful of them. "What are you?" the sea king asked, the voice sounding old.

"I'm a sea king fishman," Ace replied. None had ever asked him that, so he had a feeling this one was very old and that's why it was so surprised.

It narrowed its eyes, but not in a way that was perceived as a threat or if it had grown angry. "The last time I talked to a creature like you was in the void century. I am glad I got to see a second." Ace was intrigued, that this creature was a thousand years old. Ace swam with it for a while along the ship. It could eat it if it wished, but it showed no hint of aggression, and had come from deeper waters since it had swam up from under Ace.

After a hour of swimming, the sea king grew tired of it and departed, saying, "We may see each other again one day." Ace was in a much better mood than he was before he took a swim. He was about to head back up, since he had gotten pretty deep to accommodate the massive creature, when he saw something under the ship. He swam to it and pulled a piece of netting away, which had gotten stuck to a nail on the bottom of the ship that had been jutting out. It was some sort of fruit, though it didn't look edible. Plus, he ate food from people he trusted. He had no idea what it was, so he didn't eat it, and swam back up to the surface, dragging the netting behind him.

He popped his head out and called Marco's name, who swooped down to pick him up and back on deck. "Guess what? The sea king I was swimming with was over 1000 years old! It said it talked to the original Poseidon from Fishman Island," Ace gushed excitedly. Marco was intrigued and happy with the change in his emotions from when he last saw him.

"Did it tell you anything about what happened in the void century?" Marco asked, and some others had gathered. But Ace shook his head.

"All it said was that it was a dark time and it didn't want to speak of it," the fishman replied. Then he held up his spoils. "I found this trapped to the underside of the ship," he said. Marco took it and answered immediately.

"Good thing you didn't eat it. It's a devil fruit," Marco said. "Don't know which one, though. Well, you found it, what do you want to do with it?" Ace was so glad he did not impulsively eat that or his fishman days would be over. Ace shrugged. "If you're not gonna eat it, you can sell it for money. Depending on what it is, it might get a pretty berri," the first mate explained.

Ace thought. Selling it would be nice, but he wasn't exactly someone who went out and bought expensive things just for him. He didn't even wear anything but black shorts, though he had four pairs. He barely ever wore shoes either, always barefoot on the ship since he never knew when he'd want to take a swim.

No one cared about that, which was nice. "Do any of the commanders want it?" Ace asked. "I'm not really someone who cares about large amounts of money."

Ace looked at the commanders near and they shook their heads, not interested in it. "Well, I'll put it in our room then, until I decide what to do with it or any of the commanders wants it," Ace said, and took the fruit from Marco and brought it to their room. He didn't expect anyone to rummage through their room, but he hid it anyway. Inside the wall that Marco showed him lead to a crawlspace. If there needed to be maintenance in some places, they'd have to pull out part of the floor or wall.

He opened up the space and tucked the thing inside. Since the devil fruit was so dark already, he couldn't really see it even in the light with the wall pulled out. He set it back in place and smiled as he thought about what a good hiding place that was. For good measure, he moved the comfy chair to the front of the area.

Marco came in and saw Ace looking proud. "What did you do?"

"I hid it really well. No one but me is gonna know where it is." Marco smirked.

"It's behind the wall, isn't it?" Ace glowered, but it didn't hold any real heat.

"Fine. No one but us is gonna know where it is," Ace amended. Marco leaned down and kissed his cheek. He asked if Ace wanted to take a bath. "But we showered this morning."

Marco shrugged. "Well, you're covered in sea water and your swim looked really nice. The closest thing I can come to is the bathtub," he replied honestly. Ace put a finger on his chin in thought, Marco looking curious.

"Well, you can't die. So you can swim with me and I'll just drag you around," Ace said. Marco bonked him on the head.

"Dumbass, I'd drown. My fruit wouldn't work in the water." Ace laughed and said he hadn't thought about that. "Are we taking a bath or not?" Ace nodded, and they headed to the bathhouse for the commanders. It was a huge bathtub, deep enough in one part so Ace could be up to his chest. Marco had to stay in the shallow part.

Ace floated on his back and said, "I think I'll sell the fruit. Maybe the money could buy us something nice. Maybe we can get more robes or something so I won't soak the bed so much. _Or_ we could buy a new mattress, and put some material over it and under the sheets. Then the mattress won't be soaked."

"Ace, I don't care about our sheets or the mattress. If they were things we used around other people, sure, but we sleep in there, no one else sees it. If you saw the mess in Thatch's room, you'd think our room is the cleanest, neatest place on the planet," Marco explained. Ace stood up and walked over, asking how bad it was.

Marco told him about Thatch using his floor as a laundry basket, how he had so much hair product in his bathroom that there was barely room for anything else and the bottles were even on the floor. How things were just thrown around carelessly. How his shower walls were sticky with shampoo he didn't rinse off. "I mean, it's not filthy as in _gross_ stuff, but it's pigsty. I'm glad you aren't a messy person."

Ace laughed. "It's not like I had the resource to _be_ messy. I guess I could have turned into one, but I didn't. Actually, you're messier than I am. Leaving your clothes on the floor." Marco splashed him with water.

"At least when I brush my teeth I spit in the sink and not on the mirror," the commander said back.

"I'm tired in the morning, okay?!" Ace protested. They both started laughing, and left the bath when the water started to get cold. They both had towels ready for them. Ace's spines didn't leak when in water, so the bathwater was fine after it went through the fancy filter they had. They dried off and then went back to the room to see it was a _mess._

Someone had gone in and dug into every drawer. Ace hurried forward and Marco shut the door, checking the bathroom while Ace headed to the wall and looked to see the devil fruit was still there. "Is anything missing?" Ace asked as both of them checked everything, finding that nothing had been taken, just thrown about the room. Even the mattress had been moved around. "Did they think we stuffed the fruit inside the mattress? Who did this?"

Marco was deeply troubled. "I don't know. We need to notify Pops. Leave the fruit there. If they didn't find it the first time they most likely won't return. Whoever did this really wanted that fruit. If they went to this extent to break into a commander's bedroom then they _really_ want it. We can't let them have it," the phoenix explained. Ace frowned at the mess, and Marco told him, kindly, that they'd fix everything later.

They both headed to where Pops was, calling other commanders they saw to come, too. The whole ship would know about this, it wasn't time to call a commanders' meeting. At the chair, both Marco and Ace had hard, worried expressions. "What is it?"

"Someone broke into our bedroom, looking for the fruit Ace found. They didn't find it," Marco explained, getting right to the point. "Me and Ace went to take a bath and when we got back someone had searched through everything. Nothing was stolen or missing. Ace hid the fruit in a really good spot. And none of your rooms were disturbed. Just ours."

Whitebeard looked deeply troubled. Some of the commanders were baffled or angry as well. No one expected this to happen. "What do we do?" Izo asked. All of them had grim expressions on their faces. Whoever did it, when they were caught, would be questioned and then punished. This was a major break in trust.

"The whole ship is going to find out soon enough, we should question everyone whose presence cannot be confirmed by commanders," Whitebeard said in a decisive voice.

So, the questioning began, and Ace sat it out on the figurehead. He wasn't a commander, so he wasn't and shouldn't always be in on the meetings. He'd grown a bit used to it. He looked down at the water in front of him as he swung his feet back and forth over the edge of the ship. He'd asked Marco to question Teach, even if there was no proof that he did it. Marco, of course, agreed.

Ace was ashamed. He really wished Teach was the one to do it, for then he wouldn't be seen as wrong in his judgement of what kind of human Teach was. He sighed and then stood up, stretching from sitting for over an hour, and headed to the kitchen for something to eat and then take a nap. Their door had a lock on it, so he'd be fine to sleep on his own.

Thatch was not cooking, as most of the 1600 or so pirates were being questioned individually. It would take many hours to question everyone who was not confirmed at the time of the attempted-burglary. Ace got a snack, unable to help frantically glance around and then bolt, knowing Thatch would hate it if he knew the fishman had been in his kitchen.

He ate the three apples whole, core and all, and headed to his and Marco's room. When he entered, he sighed at the mess of it and got to work cleaning it up, door closed and locked. He put everything away, back in their place, and fixed the bed. The sheets were dotted with faded purple, and Ace knew those stains would not go away. He accepted it. Marco didn't care, and that mattered the most.

He stayed in his day shorts, which had dried. Some of his older shorts were regular shorts while the others were made of material used for swim trunks. They were the best. He laid down on his chest, throwing a blanket over his back loosely, and closed his eyes. He drifted to sleep and only awoke when there was something poked into his back over an hour later.

Everything in him told him someone was there and it wasn't familiar. His body was used to Marco's presence, and didn't wake up when he was already asleep and the blonde came to bed.

"Where's the fruit?!" the horrid man demanded. Ace realized that Teach had a knife to his back, but the fight was decided the moment Ace realized who it was, and every spine on his body raised, impaling Teach across his chest and stomach. The knife would have killed him if his skin was not so thick.

The big man screamed as Ace was stuck to him since most of his back spines were embedded deeply in his enemy's body. Ace had to actively pull away and slide out of Teach's flesh. Ace was breathing quickly in panic as Teach screamed in agony at the poison now circulating through his body.

Ace went to the wall and grabbed the devil fruit before fleeing the room, calling for Marco. He didn't leave the fruit, not knowing what it was, only that Teach wanted it badly. Ace's spines were dripping with blood that wasn't his as they were still standing straight up.

He ran into Izo first. Didn't run into him, but came across him. "I found the bad guy! He's in my room!" Ace was unable to say his name. Izo ran with him back to the bedroom, where some had already gathered from the screams of agony.

" _Teach?!_ Ace, what happened?" Izo demanded, so Ace told him. That he was sleeping and what happened once he realized it was Teach. The man was a mess on the ground. The poison was cruel. Ace had never used it in a way that would show all of its effects. The woman died once Ace stabbed her in the throat. Teach was dying slowly, in a messy way.

The fishman was not afraid of him, and dragged him out of his safe space. Izo demanded to know why Teach did it. He couldn't answer as veins stood out on his body. Soon he started to bleed from the face, and Ace had his hands over his mouth. He was _so_ glad this effect only happened when it was in the blood and not on the skin.

Marco had run over and was holding Ace, soothing down the spines that had only slightly lowered. "What do we do?" Ace asked while Teach was unable to answer any questions. He was disgusted by the man and what was happening to his body rapidly.

By the end, every commander and the captain saw his death, slow with no answers given. They had no idea why he did what he did, and now they had no way to know. Ace was still holding on tightly to the fruit. He'd hidden it well, or Teach would have this fruit that he would kill for. Ace felt awkward, being the only one of the group that was not saddened or surprised by Teach's actions.

"Sh… should you check if he has accomplices?" he asked in a small voice, knowing his family were sad about what had happened. Whitebeard sighed and nodded. "What if it's someone not on the ship? He obviously wanted this fruit for awhile, maybe he made plans after knowing it was here. Like secret den dens." Everyone was quiet and Ace worried he'd gone too far before Thatch said, "How did that come to your mind?"

Ace didn't know if he'd done something wrong. He shrugged. "I mean, well, he was going to try and kill me to get the fruit. That would be betraying the crew, right? Why would he do that with no known way out? He had to have known you'd follow him if he killed me."

"Search his room and lockers," Whitebeard commanded. "Ace, I want you to stay with me." Ace nodded and the other commanders left, Jozu being the one to take Teach's body. He was taking it to the morgue, a very small room attached to the infirmary across from the nurse's offices.

Soon Ace and Pops were in his room, which was just down the hall from the other commanders' rooms. Ace was sitting in the chair while Pops was on his bed. "I'm sorry, Ace. For my reaction to your fear. It was insensitive, even if Teach hadn't actually been bad. I wish I had trusted your judgement and instincts more. I am truly sorry for any emotional distress I caused you." Ace nodded, having been expecting the apology.

Whitebeard had been looking guilty all day every time Ace saw him. "I'm sorry your son is dead," Ace said. It was blunt, but honest. He was sorry that his family was in pain over Teach. They may be mad, but Teach was their family for a long time, and he was dead now. Because of his own actions. Ace had not attacked him, his body went on defensive mode.

The captain looked down. "I hope we find some conclusion to this. I think we should get rid of this fruit. I don't even want it on our ship anymore. I doubt anyone will want to eat it knowing the effect it's had on the crew. An effect that seems to have been written in stone long ago, but still." Ace was still holding onto it and looked down. He walked to the captain's huge windows, and pushed it open before dropping the fruit into the sea. The fishman closed the window with a click and wiped his hands.

"Now it won't bother anyone else," Ace said, and went to sit next to Pops and put his hand on his as a gesture of comfort. A few moments later, Marco entered the room with a tiny den den in his hand. It was asleep. Both Ace and Whitebeard stood up.

"Ace was right, there was this hidden in his locker in the second division's luggage room." Each division had two rooms with special belongings that couldn't fit in the spaces in the bunk rooms. Not all rooms had what the commanders' did. There was a communal closet in each shared bedroom, but not to the extent of Ace and Marco's room.

The commanders crowded on the bed while Marco held the tiny den den. "Should we call it and try and find out what Teach was planning?" the first mate questioned. The commanders collectively nodded, and Ace thought they looked like children, all piled on a bed much too big for them.

"Anyone good with a Teach impression?" Thatch asked, his voice sour about Teach and what he'd done. It was unexpected for everyone when Ace made a near perfect impression of Teach's laugh. The room went quiet as everyone stared at him. He grew defensive.

"What? It's been echoing in my head for weeks!" he exclaimed, but the commanders just shook their heads or chuckled.

"Alright, be ready to laugh, Acey," Haruta teased when Marco pressed the call button to whatever den den this one was connected to. It was silent for a moment before it picked up.

" _Cap'in?"_ a male voice asked. " _Finish with the fruit?"_

"Ze-hahahaha!" Ace responded, not knowing if he could imitate talking. Wouldn't a laugh mean something good had happened. He looked awkward as everyone stared at the den den in silent suspense.

" _I assume you took care of the fishman brat?"_ Haruta shoved his hand in Marco's face to stop him from saying something angrily.

"Th-that's right," Ace said, voice sounding like he was a chain smoker. It faltered in the beginning, but the ending sounded haughty. He honestly didn't know how Teach would carry a conversation since he'd avoided him like the plague. Now, he was just trying to sound like an asshole.

" _Now he can't follow us. We-hahahaha! Then we can kill that old man! The next yonko!"_ The room was unable to stay quiet at this development.

"WHAT?!" sixteen voices screamed in the room, with the den den looking startled and then confused.

Namur raged, "That traitor was going to try and kill Pops?!"

"Who are you, you fuckhead?! We're gonna find you. Teach is dead! Killed in the most embarrassing way. We'll find you next, and kill you!" Thatch raved. The commanders continued to shout over each other until the den den promptly disconnected. They all huffed and puffed angrily as Ace struggled not to laugh. It would be inappropriate and out of place, surely.

But then the captain burst into laughter. "You all acted like fools!" he laughed, and many of the offenders grew red in the face and erupted into bickering between one another. His face grew distant for a moment before he collected himself. "Well, at least we don't need another enemy to worry about. With Teach dead, whoever was on the other line will not try and take us on if they've been in the shadows. Now we can only focus on the battle with the Big Mom pirates and the marines." The pirates nodded in agreement, deflating a bit but still angry at the developments.

Curiel spoke, the head of the medical division, and said, "I'd like to run tests on the poison from Ace. Maybe we can develop an antidote in case something ever happens accidentally. I will be leading an autopsy of Teach. I want to know how Ace's poison affected his body so we can attempt an antidote in time. Do I have your permission, Ace?" The fishman nodded, more than willing to cooperate.

They started that work that same day. Ace donated poison that filled many vials, which were taped shut and put in their own case in a refrigerator.

Dinner that night was subdued, as the whole crew was alerted to what happened and the loose plot they knew from the conversation with the other guy. Ace's throat was a bit scratchy from the imitation, but for someone who had been in a murder attempt and then poisoned someone to death, he was faring quiet well.

He was sure that he'd feel much differently about everything if he hadn't already been sure Teach was bad. But the fishman was disturbed about what his poison had done to a human's body, which was why he'd do whatever he could to help find an antidote.

It was understandable that morale was low, but at least no one hated Ace for it. That would be terrible if he was blamed for Teach's death and nobody else knew about the rest of what happened. When he went to bed, he thought about how lucky he was to be with Marco, who could not be affected by the poison like Teach had. He wouldn't bleed from the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Wouldn't have bright blue veins stick out everywhere. Have his eyes roll back in his head.

Ace grabbed his head, not wanting those images in his head before bed. Marco was in the bathroom and Ace was sitting hunched over on the bed. Marco came out and the main lights were switched off before the side lamp was switched on. "You okay?" he asked quietly with concern.

"It was messy. I didn't know it would happen like that," Ace said vaguely, though Marco knew what he was talking about. He kissed Ace's forehead.

"You never know. It might help us out some day. Some of those on this crew use bow and arrows or crossbows for stealth missions. If you could use your poison like that, it would help the crew and not harm it," Marco offered. It didn't make Ace feel much better, but he appreciated his optimism. "Now, let's go to bed and start over tomorrow?" The younger nodded and put the robe on. They'd drained his spines earlier.

He snuggled up to Marco and fell asleep. He sure was glad for the meds for his narcolepsy. They worked like a charm and he only needed naps sometimes.


	12. The Fight For Ace

**Ariel_Lazarus: Thank you! Yeah, I put Ace through so much shit in almost all of my Whitebeard stories. I'm so sorry Ace, but it's so fun to hurt you! I love you, though. I try to make you have happy endings!**

**Iris Viggiano: I love killing Teach. Sometimes I feel it's repetitive since I kill him off in a lot of my stories, but I try to keep them diverse and not killed in the same way every time.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Teach better die a humiliating death in canon or I'ma be pissed at Oda.**

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**Last chapter! I need to finish editing one of my other finished stories since I've finished both this one and my fix-it marineford one! This chapter has some pretty gruesome moments. I'm not good at writing long fight scenes. So, beware the gore. It's short, not too drawn out. Enjoy~**

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When Marco woke up the next morning, Ace was facing him, drooling on his pillow with soft snores. Marco chuckled and slowly and carefully got off of the bed to go shower. He enjoyed his showers with Ace but was going to let him sleep in this morning. He quietly closed the bathroom door and took his shower.

When he went out, he had the pleasure of seeing Ace change his underwear. He stared at his tight butt until he turned around and made an "eep!" sound. Then he blushed. Marco laughed, finding his ridiculous embarrassment absolutely hilarious and endearing. "You know we've showered and had sex before, right? Why are you still embarrassed?" he asked, though not in an unkind way, more like lighthearted.

"I don't know," Ace said honestly. "I don't like being caught off guard."

Marco smirked, "So you don't like seeing me naked, too?" He was nude, just standing there in the bathroom doorway. Ace had been trying to avoid looking but he couldn't help it. He floundered but responded.

"It's fine to see you naked, but you can't see me," he said. Marco walked forward and pressed their bodies together, whispering, "That's not very fair, you know," in his ear, grabbing his butt.

Ace was blushing furiously and asked, "Why are you so horny all the time? Aren't older people supposed to lose their sex dri-" Ace teased before he was pinned to the bed with Marco hovering over him.

"Maybe I'm horny all the time because my boyfriend is too sexy for his own good, going shirtless everywhere. You're a constant tease," he said with a smirk. They both had some fun before leaving for breakfast, both shining in the afterglow. Marco could definitely get used to morning sex. And he wasn't rough with Ace so he wasn't left sore or in pain. Marco would never let that happen.

Breakfast was subdued, not that Marco was surprised. He hated to say it, but the longer Ace was afraid of Teach, the less he liked the man. Even though they'd been "brothers" for many years… he couldn't help it, he chose Ace over him. He'd choose Ace over anyone but Pops and possibly Thatch. Thatch, annoying though he may be, was his best friend. And Pops was a no brainer.

But for everyone else, Ace came first. He was so in love with him, never having been in a relationship like this. He watched Ace with a small smile as he scarfed down his food. Haruta was staring at Ace, looking like he was contemplating something.

"Ace? Did you not like Teach from the start?" Haruta asked. "You didn't seem at all surprised with his betrayal." Ace looked nervous, but did answer truthfully.

"He gave me a really bad feeling. Like he was evil. That… that's why spines kept going up. I'm sorry for lying about it. I thought everyone would hate me for disliking him," Ace replied. Haruta looked offended.

"Why on earth would we hate you because you didn't like someone? There are tons of people on this ship who I don't like," the commander said, utterly baffled. "Wait, is that why you didn't want to be the second division commander?" Ace nodded, and Thatch jumped in.

"That means you can be it now, right?" he asked excitedly. Ace looked wary, and Marco wondered what his answer would be.

It wasn't anything he expected him to say. "Doesn't the second division hate me now? I was the one who killed their friend," he said, with a pinched expression. But the commanders who were taking part in or listening to the conversation shook their heads.

Izo was the one to reply, "Actually, that division hates Teach the most out of everyone on the crew. Teach spent the most time with them, but never meant any of it. That was clear when we learned he wanted to kill Pops. Technically, your decisions saved everyone. I looked into the devil fruit, and it was right to toss it into the sea. That thing was bad news.

"If you hadn't hidden it so well, Teach would have gotten it and could have killed all of us," Izo finished. "So, if they don't hate you, would you be willing to take the seat? You have all of the qualities I told you about that night." Marco wondered when "that night" had been. He also didn't know what Ace's reply was, but he looked like he was deliberating, meaning he had already considered it.

"Sure," he said simply, and many of the commanders made celebratory noises. Pops cut in next.

"You will be in the spot _after_ the battle with Big Mom's brats and the marines. Not before," the captain said with finality, and no one argued, though Thatch and Haruta may have pouted. Ace seemed fine with it. Marco knew he'd do a great job, but needed schooling before he filled the seat. He already knew and got along with all of the commanders in varying degrees, some much higher than others, like Namur and Thatch, and Marco of course.

The days moved quickly as they neared their destination. Much of the crew was afraid, while others were excited. Ace was part of both. He would still not be able to fight on land. Whitebeard was adamant about that, and Ace accepted. Though he was tense and grew more tense the longer the ship sailed and the closer they got.

News spread around the world of the most likely three way battle. Whitebeard vs Marines vs Big Mom pirates. It would be messy and could go any way. Most of the allied ships had arrived and all of them were sailing to the same direction as Ace mingled between them, trying to get to know everybody.

It was no surprise to anyone that Ace was popular with their allies. And it was good. They now knew Ace and what kind of guy he was. That made them more likely to fight for him with all their heart. Ace said that most of the pirates were shocked that Marco was in a relationship. "Not cause I'm a fishman, but cause of your personality." To say Marco was offended was an understatement.

-x-

The day came that Ace had been dreading too quickly. When the island came into view, he saw the massive ship that was the Big Mom pirates main ship. But what was a shock was the amount of debris in the water. Planks of wood and broken ships littered the ocean. Dead bodies floated around, but too few compared to just how many ships had been destroyed. Many of them were pirate ships.

Pops called them all fools, trying to interfere with three of the world's strongest powers. Ace saw sea kings below the water, and assumed they had eaten the dead bodies. Sea kings liked hunting their food more, but there had been snacks everywhere.

"Time to go, Ace. You know the plan," Marco said, giving him a quick kiss and reassuring smile. Ace nodded, and jumped into the water with a small splash. The water was swarming with sea kings, but none of them went after him. Well, some came near to inspect, since there weren't many bodies in the water anymore.

"I'm Ace. Will you help me please?" he asked.

"Why?" some asked. Ace frowned.

"People want to take control over me and my relationship to sea kings. I don't want that to happen, and I want my family to get away," Ace explained simply. The sea kings grew angry at this, but not at Ace. After all, people wanted to take control over someone who could speak to them. Not command them to do things, but ask. Though he always got told yes to anything he asked.

They agreed to help, and Ace explained that he wanted the big ship at the docks and the marine ships destroyed. Ace swam alongside them to the nearest marine ship, and cannons started to fire into the water. None hit the sea kings, of course. They were in water, and the fastest swimmers in the oceans by far.

Some of the marine ships had seastone bottoms, but they were out off the island a ways. Big Mom's kids were already on the island, the Whitebeards and their allies were heading full steam ahead to the island, while the marines stayed back a ways. The first one was easy to break, a bigger one leaping out of the water to chomp down on the mast and things not made of sea stone.

Smaller ones hedbutted the bases, making the ship rock from side to side, marines falling into the water for Ace to easily take care of. The sea kings didn't eat the bodies, too focused on helping Ace.

But, suddenly, the sea kings scattered in all directions as a massive shadow swam up from underneath them. It was the huge, old one he'd met not long ago. It said nothing and swallowed the next marine ship whole.

"I didn't expect us to meet again so soon," it said. Ace beamed and latched onto its fin to swim with it. There was no possible resistance to the beast when it swallowed six other marine ships whole. He didn't even need to say anything before the sea king headed for the island. But the water was too shallow for it to reach the targeted ship.

It let out a loud noise Ace knew was a call to other sea kings. He watched as many smaller ones, though big compared to him, came up. They all had the same markings as the big one Ace had befriended. These were its family. Most likely children, though aged by their size. The big one didn't even need to say anything before the started torpedoing towards the target. Ace stood on the sea king's head to see what was happening.

Something had stopped all of them, and Ace saw a huge, blue man made of smoke defending the ship. It wasn't a human, so Ace assumed he was using a devil fruit. "You're children can't make it. Call them back, I don't want them to get hurt," Ace said. The sea kings swam away from the pirate ship, easily avoiding all of the other ships. He had to do something that would fulfil his duty but not hurt the sea kings who were offering him help.

He knew the big one would be able to swallow that ship, but the water just wasn't deep enough. It sank back below, taking Ace with it. The smaller sea kings came back, and swam circles around Ace while their parent waited silently for Ace to say something.

"Wait!" Ace said, coming up with a realization. "That ship's bottom is not made of sea stone, but wood. A devil fruit power can not exist under water, so they'll be safe as long as they stay deep enough. Can you please all chew through the ship from underneath?" the fishman asked.

They nodded and swam back, deep under the water so the smoke thing's weapon couldn't reach them. They chewed up and through the ship, breaking it apart from the inside. Ace could hear screams and cursing as the ship crumbled, falling apart into huge chunks. There were only a few bodies who fell in, meaning most had made it to the island.

Ace popped his head out of the water with a grin. His task was done. But now he had to wait until the fight was over. Just waiting there with nothing to do. He frowned, but thanked the sea kings when they came back.

"Tasted bad!" one complained, and Ace could smell in the water something sweet. Well, Haruta had told him that the Big Moms use lots of things made out of food. Perhaps some of the ship was made of something sweet.

The fishman badly wanted to go help, but he wouldn't defy Pops' order. He did peek his head out, a ways away from the island, and see some people fighting, though most were too small to make out besides a few of the enemy pirates and Pops. Ace decided he would check if there were any other ships around the island, and swam around the back, still keeping a distance from the land.

It was a beautiful island, but was sadly decimated in many areas. The cherry blossom trees were in bad shape. This island had been and was going through hell. But Ace was ordered not to approach it no matter what. So he didn't.

But, he did find another ship out a ways. Ace had swam away from the big sea king, but it was still at the island, circling it. It said it'd help Ace again if he asked. This one was one of Ace's favorites. It was old and interesting, loyal to him even though he didn't call for it specifically. He swam up to the new ship but didn't surface, not knowing who it was.

Then he saw glints of things being torpedoed into the water. More than a few sharp projectiles hit him, but did no damage. He grinned and took one of the bigger ones that was sinking and held it, reaching his arm back to throw it straight at the hull of the ship, going in fully and leaving a big hole in the keel.

Just to pass time, he swam around the ship to the bottom and punched holes into it with his fists. We went to a porthole and looked inside to see people freaking about the rising water. They saw him through the window and he waved before breaking the window to let water pour in. He watched in satisfaction at taking out enemies. After all, they shot at him first.

As the ship sunk, the pirates jumped into the ocean to get away. Only, the child sea kings had swam over to see what Ace was doing, and ate them. Ace was not surprised after seeing the missing bodies. It appeared he was wrong. Sea kings did eat humans alive if they wanted to. At least they weren't messy with their food and ate the humans in big gulps.

Ace saw who he knew to be the captain, who was lethargic and glaring at him in a sleepy way. Devil fruit user. He swam closer and looked at his strange getup. Honestly, the Whitebeards did not wear weird clothes. Not like the eccentric outfits of some of their allies. The red haired guy sunk lower and lower until he was eaten as well.

The fishman swam to the ship as it sank, and saw a pretty cool dinosaur skull looking figurehead. He ripped it off the ship and swam to the bottom of the sea and set it down there to many come and get later. Thatch and Haruta would think it was cool.

Ace popped his head out of the water, looking for any more marine ships on the horizon, when something grabbed his head and yanked him out of the water. He was pulled up in the air and saw that he was constricted by arms. He was being taken back to the island and saw he was trapped in the arms of a man whose lower body was made of smoke.

He thrashed around, and the huge sea king came after, angry, and it's jaw opened wide as it swallowed both of them whole. The guy holding him screamed before letting Ace go as he slid down the sea king's throat. It smelled _foul_ , and he threw his hands out on either side to climb back up.

The smoke man was gone, no longer in the mouth. Ace climbed his way back up the throat and rested on the tongue before he was thrown around as the sea king dived. He was finally expelled deep, deep in the ocean, where it was darker and he could barely see the surface. Ace was breathing heavily, shaken by how captured he'd been. Any sea king not the size of the mammoth one would not have been able to get as high in the air that the smoke man had gone to.

"Th-thank you," Ace said. "I think I'll stay down here now."

"That's a wise idea," the sea king responded. He knew the man had been a devil fruit user, a logia. He was able to fly and survived being split in half from a sea king. Ace was not so happy and carefree as he'd been just moments ago. He was way too relaxed. Marco was gonna be mad at him later.

He hoped he was okay. Hoped everyone was okay. He could hear the fighting echoing very faintly. Ace had been distracted before, going around with the sea kings, punching that ship to pieces. Now, he was stationary and only thinking of the safety of his family and their allies. Hopefully, his actions helped them out. Though that strong marine was out there. But the pirates, besides him, knew haki. Haki would be able to get him.

He waited in the dark with the seaking, who was resting on the bottom of the sea. It's children were resting on top of it, some sleeping. Ace smiled softly at them. They saved him. He was forever grateful for their help.

-x-

Katakuri was a nightmare to fight. He and Jozu were winging it, to be honest. Trying to be fast enough to get past his bullshit haki. He dodged every time, or manipulated his body to be out of the way. Their job was to keep him away from Ace, even if they were unable to beat him. The ship the enemy pirates had sailed with was decimated. The sea kings were invaluable.

Jozu was unhurt by Katakuri's fists, even with haki. Marco was hit multiple times, and it hurt, but he was healed an instant later. The good thing about fighting a fellow devil fruit user was that he could not use sea stone. Couldn't hold it or weild it. So it was now mostly who would tire first.

Pops was fighting with the other commanders and allies as they fought countless marines. The stronger ones had been on the island. Those that the sea king ate were the marine fodder. Whitebeard wielded his weapon instead of risking his devil fruit powers. The island was already partly destroyed. The citizens had evacuated to a cave that only they knew about.

It was good they called their allies and that so many had come because the marines had brought in the big guns. CP9 was there, and out of the corner of his eye, Marco could see a leopard fighting against one of the other large Big Mom pirates. None of them had once mentioned the woman Ace had killed. It had just been "give him to us" and then "no" and then a battle commenced with dozens of pirate crews and the marines. Marco hoped Ace was staying in the water. They didn't know all of the devil fruit users or their powers.

Thank goodness that the admirals had not come. That battle could have been hopeless. So, screams were heard everywhere as pirates and marines tore each other to pieces with all kinds of weapons. The Charlotte children had the most diverse devil fruits, Marco had to say. Ace would be interested to talk about them later.

Marco landed a hit for the first time in a good twenty minutes, scratching a haki covered talon across the mochi man's face, causing a gaping gash across his eyebrow and cheek. He didn't react other than a glare that would terrify a lesser man. He'd already been going full out, so the fight didn't change much in intensity.

The ground shook around them, as Pops had started using his fruit. Marco was mostly unaffected by flying, but both Katakuri and Jozu stumbled, where Marco took advantage of it, since it most likely wouldn't happen again. He thrusted his haki covered talons into Katakuri's face, leaving bloody lines down his cheeks and tearing his ever-present scarf to pieces.

Everyone was too immersed in their own battles to see the face the sweet commander had always hidden. Marco had seen weirder things, but was a bit surprised by the mouth. And he couldn't afford to reach down to get his scarf, as Marco and Jozu were on him, his abnomal mouth not being a distraction at all.

But the man had finally gotten angry, and he seemed to be going harder, though Jozu and Marco took their advantage of being calm over someone who had become emotional, and emotional people were easier to fight as they were messy. They slipped up. And he did. Another quake shook the ground and air and Jozu launched forward, grabbing around Katakuri's legs and pulling him so he was off balance as Marco gouged his haki covered talon into his neck, blood spraying everywhere.

Neither of them wasted the moment, and Jozu coated his already incredibly hard fist in haki and slammed it down on Katakuri's face and then Marco ripped his face open. It was perhaps shameful to beat an opponent while they were dying, but Katakuri was strong, and they would keep going until they knew he was dead.

The second he died, bleeding everywhere with his jaw hanging to the side, the battlefield stilled. The Big Mom pirates were shocked, and they _all_ slipped up. The strongest of them had been taken out, their brother, and both the marines and pirates took advantage and were able to take out many of the crew all in an instant.

Those who still were alive by chance had their spirits broken, and lost the fight. Their enemies were not kind enough to afford them time to grieve or get over their shock. The Whitebeards were protecting Ace, and the marines were protecting themselves.

Charlotte bodies littered the battlefield, but the fight continued with the marines. Raykuo and Haruta were out of the fight, both of them unconscious but alive. They had enough allies to take them from their battles and take their place in their stead.

At least thirty of the Whitebeards and fifty two of their allies had died. No commanders, but it was still a heavy loss. There were torn-in-half corpses from Pops' bisento, and the pirates had decimated many of the higher ranking marines. But one slipped past, Smoker, and Marco turned around to see him grab something sticking out of the water and pulled the black and white striped man out of the water.

"Ace!" Marco shouted and flew off at top speed only to see both Smoker and Ace swallowed whole. Smoker survived, as he was a logia, but Marco didn't know about Ace. He was sure that a sea king would not kill him, as that specific beast was the one who ate the enemy ships whole. Marco couldn't worry about him right now, so he went after the only logia on the battlefield. He was stretched from the dock out over the water, most of his body being smoke.

If they were in Paradise where haki was not used widely, Smoker could possibly be invincible. But Marco knew haki, and the jitte Smoker had was on his back. Far from where Marco was. He used his talons, the best weapon, and slashed through Smoker's body, bypassing his logia power with armament haki and spraying blood into the water. Of course, no marine cared or shouted his name as he lost his footing and fell into the sea. He was gone, both drowning and bleeding out.

Marco was fighting mercilessly, but it was to keep his lover safe. And Ace was back underwater. Marco hoped he didn't come back up, not risking anything happening.

The battle lasted for four hours from start to finish. By the end, everyone was exhausted or dead. With the marines out of action, some vice admirals still alive but out of the fight, the pirates took their chance and got onto their ships to leave.

Well, not leave yet. They circled around the island to sadly tell all of the citizens they needed to relocate. And they would take them to the nearest island. Once Big Mom found out, she'd do one of two things. Either dismiss her childrens' deaths as them being weak, or come after those that defeated and humiliated them. Time would tell, but her strongest children were dead and out of action. Two of the three sweet commanders were no longer alive.

It was a victory for the Whitebeards and their allies, even though they had many people to mourn. Haruta, Rayuko and the others were rushed to the infirmary while the rest helped the small number of citizens board the main ship. It was their fault these people were caught up in it, so there was no other option than to take them, safely, to another Whitebeard island.

Marco watched the waters for Ace from above after Namur had gone to search for him. Marco was covered in blood, his legs and feet especially. The huge sea king rose out of the water next to the main ship, and Ace was smiling, standing on its head. Namur was as well, looking quite terrified. The sea king went towards the ship enough for both fishmen to step onto the deck.

"Thank you so much for your help," Ace said to the sea king, bowing. "You too," he replied to something no one else could hear.

Ace ran to Marco and hugged him tightly. Marco wrapped his arms around Ace, too. "Are you okay?" Marco asked. Ace nodded, and asked the same. "We won the fight. We lost many, and our allies lost many. It will be a sad time, but at least they died in a battle we won." Ace looked sad, but didn't apologize. His brothers had been telling him to stop saying that for weeks. "We're taking the citizens to the next safest island. Their home is destroyed."

It was a sad day, but it could have been much worse. If Katakuri hadn't died and stalled the fight just for a second, the outcome may have been different and the death toll on their side much higher. "Is it safe to have their bodies there?"

Marco nodded. "They're dead, and their ship is destroyed. The marines now have to find a way to get off the island. I'm sure they'll find a way, but by the time anyone comes for them many will have succumbed to their wounds."

Pops came up behind them, and said, "Why don't you go wash off Marco?" The phoenix looked down and realized just how much blood he was soaked with. He nodded and took Ace's hand, both walking to the bath house to relax and unwind. There was still much to do, but he could do with a break, no matter how long it was. Just a moment to relax with Ace, knowing he was safe and they had prevailed.

-x-

It was only three days later that the outcome of the fight had been reported. Ace thought it was disgusting that there were photos of some of the corpses in the newspaper. And only the corpses of the Big Mom pirates. They couldn't afford to make the marines look bad. Multiple bounty posters slipped out of the paper. Marco and Jozu's bounty raised double than it was before, which was quite the feat.

Marco's now surpassed Ace's. There was a small celebration, dulled with sadness it may be, for the fact that each commander now had a bounty. During the week following the battle, there had been no message from Big Mom, or any of her children. No reports of any plot for revenge. Pops said that the yonko was probably furious that her childrens' beaten bodies were in the newspaper for everyone to see.

The pirates busied themselves with helping the citizens and taking turns helping school Ace on how to be a commander. He had already learned basic reading and writing from Marco, but he needed to learn more for when he had to write reports. Ace was excited for it. The commanders were glad he had not thought of backing out after realizing just how big the responsibility was that he was taking on. He looked forward to being a leader, and promised he'd be a good one.

He spent time getting to know each member in the second division personally. Helping them do their tasks, talking to them about the loved ones they'd lost, etc. it was a good way to bond with his division, and showed how determined he was to do it right. Some of the pirates couldn't believe he was only 20. He turned 20 some time after he joined.

The next newspaper after the initial one announcing the battle had a long list of those who died, clumping pirates together by their crews and not individual members, since all of them died. The only ones they were missing were the Whitebeards and their allies' deceased ones. None of the captains had passed, thankfully. But among that list was sixteen rookie crews, including the Kid Pirates that Ace had taken out. Before the Whitebeards and their allies had gotten there, the marines sank seven of the rookies and the Big Mom pirates took out the rest.

Every morning, Marco would take the paper and scan if for any information on Ace. There was none. He was sure the World Government was not going to just let Ace slip away, but the show of power that both he and his fellow pirates showed had put off any other crew wishing to take on them for Ace. The sweeping victory they'd gotten over both the marines and other yonko crew had somehow made everyone _more_ afraid of them.

It was strange since they were already feared immensely. And they noticed, a bit disappointedly, that no more rookie crews were challenging them. Where would they get their battles from?! They hoped they were just "enjoying" a long break and that big headed brats would resurface and try and "take Whitebeard's head".

Even if they could take on the captain, he now had all 16 commanders there to back him up. Marco took pride in the fact that he'd been right since the beginning. Ace made a great commander.

He was so grateful for taking a chance that day and freeing Ace from his cage he couldn't break. Stupid sea stone. Just that decision had changed his life, and everyone's lives, very drastically. And they were all happy Marco made that choice and added an invaluable and cherished person to their crew and family.


End file.
